Crane (NYSE:CR) VP Alejandro Alcala Sells 2,293 Shares

Crane (NYSE:CR) VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $173.31 on Tuesday. Crane has a 52 week low of $118.48 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.83.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Crane by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crane by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Crane by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,782,000 after purchasing an additional 29,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Crane in the fourth quarter worth $45,127,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

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.