New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 7,539 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,539 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Crane were worth $6,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Crane by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $493,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Crane by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Crane by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 40,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,210,000 after purchasing an additional 10,624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research 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, Crane presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE CR opened at $160.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.32. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $121.07 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.86% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.