Brokerages Set Crane (NYSE:CR) Target Price at $155.00

Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $155.00.

CR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $149.91 on Tuesday. Crane has a 12 month low of $82.57 and a 12 month high of $162.34. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 4.3% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 193,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,087,000 after buying an additional 7,945 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 13.7% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 33,360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after buying an additional 4,020 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 126,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,913,000 after purchasing an additional 62,613 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter worth $951,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Crane by 70.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 75,410 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,190,000 after acquiring an additional 31,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.