Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 14,373 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Crane worth $712,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,127,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Crane during the third quarter worth about $17,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Crane during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,890,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Crane by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,068,000 after buying an additional 35,340 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,675,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Trading Down 2.3 %

CR stock opened at $152.27 on Monday. Crane has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.09. 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 (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CR. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.