Crane (NYSE:CR) PT Raised to $150.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Crane from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $125.00.

Crane Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $129.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. Crane has a 52-week low of $67.28 and a 52-week high of $139.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.80.

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

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Crane by 8.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 14,853 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Crane by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Crane by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Crane by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% 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.