Crane (NYSE:CR) Receives $174.80 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Crane (NYSE:CR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.80.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CR. StockNews.com upgraded Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their target price on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crane by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,104 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,379,000 after buying an additional 11,034 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crane in the second quarter valued at approximately $884,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Crane by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, DLK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $895,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE CR opened at $171.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $161.83 and a 200-day moving average of $159.70. Crane has a 52-week low of $118.48 and a 52-week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

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.