KBC Group NV Has $4.72 Million Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

KBC Group NV increased its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,789 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.05% of Crane worth $4,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the third quarter worth about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Crane by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.33.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of Crane stock opened at $173.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $158.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.51. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $102.80 and a fifty-two week high of $180.87.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $594.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.06%.

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.