Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $3,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after buying an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Crane by 328.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after acquiring an additional 18,236 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 44.5% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,717 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CR. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $152.44 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. Crane has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.55. The company 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.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.