Two Sigma Securities LLC Takes $272,000 Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,794 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Crane by 487.8% in 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Crane by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Crane by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE CR opened at $148.36 on Tuesday. Crane has a 52 week low of $127.04 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $150.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CR shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price target on shares of Crane and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.40.

Crane Company 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.