MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Crane $CR

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC increased its stake in Crane by 117.3% in the 1st quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 937,237 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $143,566,000 after acquiring an additional 505,983 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane in the first quarter worth approximately $75,254,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Crane by 23.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 679,768 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $104,127,000 after purchasing an additional 130,218 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 23.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 440,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,524,000 after purchasing an additional 84,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,864,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.20.

Crane Stock Down 0.2%

CR opened at $191.91 on Monday. Crane has a 12 month low of $127.04 and a 12 month high of $203.89. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $184.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.39. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $577.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $567.70 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.Crane’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total value of $4,007,257.34. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 33,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,461,801.24. This trade represents a 38.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

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.