Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 4,010 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,002 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,010 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Crane worth $9,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Crane by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Crane by 1.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Crane by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CR. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Up 0.7 %

CR opened at $172.74 on Wednesday. Crane has a 1-year low of $118.48 and a 1-year high of $188.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.50. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Crane 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.