Naviter Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 1,413 Crane (NYSE:CR)

Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,413 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Crane in the 3rd quarter worth $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter worth about $12,890,000. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 67.2% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,805,000 after purchasing an additional 37,581 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Crane by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,068,000 after buying an additional 35,340 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Up 1.8 %

CR stock opened at $154.29 on Monday. Crane has a one year low of $127.82 and a one year high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.83 and its 200 day moving average is $161.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

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.