Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Crane were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after acquiring an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its stake in Crane by 67.2% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,805,000 after acquiring an additional 37,581 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted 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 worth $20,068,000 after acquiring an additional 35,340 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the fourth quarter worth about $4,675,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

CR stock opened at $155.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.76. Crane has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $188.52. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.