Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 4,096 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,096 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.23% of Crane worth $20,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crane during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 81.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CR stock opened at $164.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93. Crane has a 1 year low of $106.89 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.91.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CR has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

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.