Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock Position Decreased by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 76.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,952 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,420 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Crane by 143.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,387,000 after purchasing an additional 68,795 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 187.7% during the second quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 699 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the second quarter valued at $617,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter worth about $679,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in Crane by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 20,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Crane from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.67.

Crane Price Performance

NYSE CR opened at $134.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $124.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.11. Crane has a 12-month low of $67.28 and a 12-month high of $135.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. 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 (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $519.55 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Crane 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.