Crane (NYSE:CR) Price Target Lowered to $170.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $176.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.19% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.80.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $163.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 169,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,712. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.03. 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 has a 52-week low of $110.49 and a 52-week high of $188.52. The company has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced 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. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $594.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Crane in the third quarter worth about $515,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 11.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 192,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $27,902,000 after purchasing an additional 20,518 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Crane by 12.5% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 384,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $55,758,000 after buying an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Crane by 328.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,765,000 after buying an additional 18,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after buying an additional 3,188 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.