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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $137.00.

Crane Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CR opened at $144.35 on Friday. Crane has a 12 month low of $67.28 and a 12 month high of $146.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.58. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Crane’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Crane by 120.5% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,316,245 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $116,935,000 after purchasing an additional 719,408 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crane during the fourth quarter worth about $59,659,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the third quarter worth about $21,302,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Crane by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 663,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,353,000 after acquiring an additional 204,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Crane by 98.0% during the third quarter. JS Capital Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,536,000 after acquiring an additional 198,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.