Crane (NYSE:CR) Price Target Raised to $200.00 at DA Davidson

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its target price boosted by DA Davidson from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $171.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.85. Crane has a 1-year low of $118.48 and a 1-year high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced 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 net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $515,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Crane by 328.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,765,000 after purchasing an additional 18,236 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Crane by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Crane by 5.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 68,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Crane during the third quarter worth approximately $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% 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.