Crane (NYSE:CR) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CR. UBS Group upped their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

CR stock opened at $151.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.62. Crane has a 1-year low of $126.03 and a 1-year high of $188.52. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its 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 business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Crane by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Crane by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Crane by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,196 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in Crane by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.