Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $4.68 Million in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 30,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Crane by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,782,000 after buying an additional 29,538 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Crane by 147.6% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 8,048 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 4,797 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Crane by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Crane by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $67,758,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Crane during the fourth quarter worth about $493,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $152.03 on Wednesday. Crane has a 12-month low of $123.82 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.65.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS 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 given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on CR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.