Crane (NYSE:CR) Short Interest Down 9.1% in August

Crane (NYSE:CR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 601,700 shares, a decline of 9.1% from the July 31st total of 661,900 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 225,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Crane by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 17,249 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,501,000 after buying an additional 2,921 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 384,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $55,758,000 after acquiring an additional 42,743 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,159,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,104 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,379,000 after purchasing an additional 11,034 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Crane Price Performance

NYSE:CR traded down $5.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $152.65. 209,372 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,035. Crane has a 52 week low of $82.57 and a 52 week high of $162.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.78.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.33 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. Crane’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

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.