Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 34.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,436 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,322,850 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $156,282,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $443,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Crane by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,894,887 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $578,282,000 after buying an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

CR opened at $158.73 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. Crane has a 12-month low of $82.57 and a 12-month high of $162.34.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.33 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.17.

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.