Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $3.89 Million in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,621 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $3,888,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,127,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Crane in the third quarter valued at approximately $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after acquiring an additional 91,029 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,890,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Crane by 67.2% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,805,000 after acquiring an additional 37,581 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $152.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $188.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $162.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.55.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CR shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

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.