Xponance Inc. Acquires 252 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Crane by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,371,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Crane by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Crane by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,161,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Crane Trading Up 4.1 %

Crane stock opened at $158.93 on Tuesday. Crane has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $188.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $162.16 and its 200 day moving average is $161.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.