Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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 reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Crane by 5.1% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,080,000 after acquiring an additional 8,899 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Crane by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,068,000 after acquiring an additional 35,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Crane by 3.2% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 132,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,925,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CR shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Crane stock opened at $172.74 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.50. Crane has a 12-month low of $118.48 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.