Independent Advisor Alliance Has $762,000 Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Crane were worth $762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CR. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Crane during the third quarter worth about $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,890,000. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 67.2% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,805,000 after buying an additional 37,581 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Crane by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,068,000 after buying an additional 35,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

CR stock opened at $155.61 on Friday. 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 $128.50 and a 52-week high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.71.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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.