Ground Swell Capital LLC Takes $256,000 Position in Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS)

Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Carpenter Technology by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,444,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,295,000 after buying an additional 979,313 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,537,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $260,884,000 after acquiring an additional 357,417 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Carpenter Technology by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $193,279,000 after purchasing an additional 38,411 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 870,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $147,648,000 after purchasing an additional 210,000 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Carpenter Technology by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 679,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $115,291,000 after acquiring an additional 117,759 shares during the period. 92.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRS. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Carpenter Technology from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Finally, BTIG Research set a $230.00 price objective on Carpenter Technology in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carpenter Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Carpenter Technology news, Director I Martin Inglis sold 3,433 shares of Carpenter Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.66, for a total value of $678,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,330,647.12. The trade was a 33.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Carpenter Technology Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:CRS opened at $212.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.84. Carpenter Technology Co. has a 12-month low of $95.17 and a 12-month high of $215.96. The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.09, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. Carpenter Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.33%.

Carpenter Technology declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Carpenter Technology Profile

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.