Natixis Buys New Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,300 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Crane by 150.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its position in shares of Crane by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Vertical Research upgraded Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.50.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of CR traded up $4.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.42. The stock had a trading volume of 13,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,883. Crane has a 52 week low of $82.57 and a 52 week high of $160.39. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.12. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.80.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $565.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

About Crane

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.