Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 5,509 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 797,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,509 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Crane were worth $121,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Crane by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Crane in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $148.40 on Friday. Crane has a 52 week low of $127.04 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price target on Crane and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.40.

About Crane

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.