Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 30,805 Crane (NYSE:CR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 30,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.05% of Crane as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $152.03 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $162.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.65. Crane has a 12 month low of $123.82 and a 12 month high of $188.52. 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 $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.