Crane (NYSE:CR) Holdings Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 441,250 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $69,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $515,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $27,902,000 after purchasing an additional 20,518 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 70.7% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 123,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,972,000 after purchasing an additional 51,342 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the second quarter valued at $509,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 673.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 82,172 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,913,000 after purchasing an additional 71,544 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.00.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of Crane stock opened at $152.80 on Friday. Crane has a 52 week low of $110.49 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.20. The stock has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $597.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.06%.

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.