Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,113 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Crane were worth $2,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter worth $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter worth $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Crane by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE CR opened at $153.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $161.86 and its 200-day moving average is $161.77. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.82 and a 12-month high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CR. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

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.