Granite Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,082 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,342 shares during the period. Crane makes up 1.0% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.28% of Crane worth $23,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,894,887 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $578,282,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,095,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $247,567,000 after purchasing an additional 79,710 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,348,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $182,216,000 after purchasing an additional 685,230 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake 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 worth $156,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Crane by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 771,709 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $111,882,000 after acquiring an additional 70,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.00.

Crane Price Performance

CR stock opened at $154.39 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $151.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.61. Crane has a 1 year low of $82.57 and a 1 year high of $162.34.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released 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 business had revenue of $581.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

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.