Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Cubic Asset Management LLC

Cubic Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,864 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Cubic Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 143.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,387,000 after purchasing an additional 68,795 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in Crane by 187.7% during the second quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 699 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the second quarter valued at $617,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the third quarter valued at $679,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Crane by 100.0% during the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 20,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.00.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of Crane stock traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $138.00. The stock had a trading volume of 207,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,172. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $127.71 and its 200 day moving average is $111.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. Crane has a twelve month low of $67.28 and a twelve month high of $139.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $519.55 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. Equities analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.