Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Crane worth $8,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Crane by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Crane by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,782,000 after purchasing an additional 29,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in Crane by 5.1% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,080,000 after purchasing an additional 8,899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $162.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.52. 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 has a twelve month low of $121.07 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.40% 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.