Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Carpenter Technology Corporation $CRS

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its position in Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,721 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Carpenter Technology were worth $3,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Carpenter Technology during the first quarter worth $1,948,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. bought a new position in Carpenter Technology in the first quarter valued at $494,000. Redwood Investments LLC increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 90.9% in the first quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 32,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,808,000 after acquiring an additional 15,267 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 15,666.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 130,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,680,000 after acquiring an additional 129,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Carpenter Technology in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.03% of the company’s stock.

Carpenter Technology Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:CRS opened at $244.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $259.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.94. Carpenter Technology Corporation has a 12-month low of $131.12 and a 12-month high of $290.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $755.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $790.73 million. Carpenter Technology had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 13.07%.Carpenter Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Carpenter Technology Corporation will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Carpenter Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CRS shares. Benchmark increased their target price on Carpenter Technology from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Carpenter Technology in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Carpenter Technology in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Carpenter Technology from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tony R. Thene sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.99, for a total value of $4,654,810.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 535,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,074,304.81. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director I Martin Inglis sold 5,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.54, for a total value of $1,391,677.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,646,243.28. The trade was a 45.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,691 shares of company stock valued at $6,290,207 over the last ninety days. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Carpenter Technology

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts.