Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.24% of Crane worth $20,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CR. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $515,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Crane by 328.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,765,000 after purchasing an additional 18,236 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Crane by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after buying an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Crane by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 68,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,765,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Price Performance

CR stock opened at $171.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. 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 data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.