The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Position in Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS) by 100.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,952 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.11% of Carpenter Technology worth $9,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRS. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carpenter Technology by 471.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 101,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,236,000 after purchasing an additional 83,930 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Carpenter Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Carpenter Technology by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 368,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,891,000 after buying an additional 32,442 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Carpenter Technology by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Tlwm now owns 9,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 92.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRS has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research set a $230.00 price target on shares of Carpenter Technology in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Carpenter Technology from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Carpenter Technology from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Carpenter Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.00.

Carpenter Technology Trading Down 0.7 %

CRS stock opened at $211.61 on Tuesday. Carpenter Technology Co. has a twelve month low of $95.17 and a twelve month high of $215.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.76.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.67 million. Carpenter Technology had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Carpenter Technology Co. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. Carpenter Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.33%.

Carpenter Technology announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Carpenter Technology

In other news, Director I Martin Inglis sold 3,433 shares of Carpenter Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.66, for a total transaction of $678,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,330,647.12. This trade represents a 33.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Carpenter Technology

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts.