MQS Management LLC Makes New $409,000 Investment in Crane $CR

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Crane by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 31.8% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 27,622 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,664 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crane by 19.6% during the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 17.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 99,856 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,296,000 after purchasing an additional 14,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Crane in the 1st quarter valued at $339,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total transaction of $4,007,257.34. Following the sale, the vice president owned 33,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,461,801.24. This represents a 38.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.20.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR stock opened at $191.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $184.48 and its 200 day moving average is $179.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. Crane has a 12 month low of $127.04 and a 12 month high of $203.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $577.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $567.70 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Profile

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.