Crane (NYSE:CR) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on CR. UBS Group upped their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.80.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $170.99 on Wednesday. Crane has a 52 week low of $115.00 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $163.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.76. 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 market cap of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CR. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 67.2% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,805,000 after purchasing an additional 37,581 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Crane by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,068,000 after buying an additional 35,340 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,459,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.