Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,619 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Crane were worth $9,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Crane by 93.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,666,141 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $193,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,048 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Crane by 76.8% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,408,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $179,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,295 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 120.5% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,316,245 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,935,000 after acquiring an additional 719,408 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Crane by 63.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,540,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $89,456,000 after purchasing an additional 599,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 141.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 988,245 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $70,105,000 after purchasing an additional 578,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE CR opened at $130.09 on Thursday. Crane has a 52-week low of $67.28 and a 52-week high of $139.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.09. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $519.55 million. Equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on CR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Crane from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.