Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 18,188 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 441,250 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,188 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.77% of Crane worth $69,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Crane by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.33.

Crane Price Performance

Crane stock opened at $176.00 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. Crane has a one year low of $99.98 and a one year high of $177.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.28.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Crane’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.06%.

Crane 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.