Short Interest in Crane (NYSE:CR) Rises By 45.4%

Crane (NYSE:CR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 620,300 shares, a growth of 45.4% from the October 15th total of 426,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 217,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Crane Trading Down 0.2 %

CR traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $173.50. The company had a trading volume of 121,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,733. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.35. Crane has a 52 week low of $102.80 and a 52 week high of $180.87. 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 (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. Crane’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.06%.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 4.3% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 193,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,087,000 after purchasing an additional 7,945 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 13.7% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 33,360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,508,000 after purchasing an additional 4,020 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 70.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 75,410 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after acquiring an additional 31,069 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 103.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,348,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $182,216,000 after acquiring an additional 685,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 11.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 192,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $27,902,000 after acquiring an additional 20,518 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.33.

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.