Crane (NYSE:CR) Given New $157.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $150.00 to $157.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CR. Vertical Research upgraded Crane from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $137.00.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of CR stock opened at $142.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $67.28 and a fifty-two week high of $143.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $130.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $565.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.39 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Crane’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in Crane by 120.5% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,316,245 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,935,000 after buying an additional 719,408 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Crane during the fourth quarter valued at $59,659,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Crane during the third quarter valued at $21,302,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Crane by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 663,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,353,000 after buying an additional 204,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Crane by 98.0% during the third quarter. JS Capital Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,536,000 after buying an additional 198,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.