Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Crane were worth $89,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Crane during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of CR opened at $155.61 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.97 and its 200 day moving average is $161.76. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

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.