MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,428 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $4,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,533,000 after purchasing an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Crane by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $372,676,000 after acquiring an additional 355,765 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $216,246,000 after acquiring an additional 138,279 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter worth $144,961,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Crane by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 797,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $121,080,000 after purchasing an additional 5,509 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $148.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Crane has a 1 year low of $127.04 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Crane and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.40.

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.