Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 30,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Crane by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,782,000 after acquiring an additional 29,538 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,080,000 after acquiring an additional 8,899 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE CR opened at $154.13 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $161.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.