Argyle Capital Management LLC Purchases 293 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,813 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Crane by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Crane by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Crane by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,782,000 after purchasing an additional 29,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in Crane by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,080,000 after purchasing an additional 8,899 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $160.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 1-year low of $121.07 and a 1-year high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $161.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.32.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.