HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 826 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Crane by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter worth about $45,127,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Crane by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Crane by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,990 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CR has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Down 2.6 %

CR opened at $156.16 on Thursday. Crane has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $162.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

About Crane

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.