Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,319 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,357 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Crane were worth $9,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CR. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 145.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after buying an additional 25,400 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 65,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,896,000 after buying an additional 3,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,888,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CR. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Insider Activity at Crane

In related 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 value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.62. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid 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 yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.