Xponance Inc. Buys 252 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Crane during the third quarter valued at about $515,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after buying an additional 18,236 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Crane by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,515,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted 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, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of CR stock opened at $158.93 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $162.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.77. Crane has a 12-month low of $128.50 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crane 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.