Jump Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Jump Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,958 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,350 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $3,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Crane and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.40.

Crane Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:CR opened at $142.51 on Friday. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The firm has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.66.

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

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

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.