Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 2,029 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,554 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,029 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Aviva PLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at about $538,000. Cynosure Group LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 149.6% during the fourth quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 6,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Crane by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Crane by 619.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,823,000 after acquiring an additional 430,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 3,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other Crane 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 value of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CR. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.60.

Crane Price Performance

Crane stock opened at $141.29 on Thursday. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $155.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

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.