Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,521 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,817 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Crane were worth $6,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter valued at about $515,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,890,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Crane by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,515,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Crane by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 323,272 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,057,000 after acquiring an additional 8,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Crane Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Crane stock opened at $140.81 on Monday. Crane has a twelve month low of $127.04 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.15.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its 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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.