Motco Lowers Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Motco lessened its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 77.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 285 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Crane were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CR. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CR shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Crane Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE CR opened at $162.95 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $161.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.45. Crane has a one year low of $121.07 and a one year high of $188.52. 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 company has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 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 posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.