Crane (NYSE:CR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Crane (NYSE:CR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $167.00.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Crane by 81.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Crane in the third quarter worth about $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $153.37 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.17. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $110.49 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $594.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Crane’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.06%.

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.