StockNews.com Upgrades Crane (NYSE:CR) to “Buy”

Crane (NYSE:CR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CR. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.67.

Crane Trading Up 0.2 %

CR opened at $135.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. Crane has a 1-year low of $67.28 and a 1-year high of $135.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.09. The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 99.3% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new position in Crane during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Crane by 187.7% during the second quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 699 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Crane by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 85.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.