Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 742 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $712,533,000 after acquiring an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Crane by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $372,676,000 after purchasing an additional 355,765 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $216,246,000 after buying an additional 138,279 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 976,497 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $148,184,000 after buying an additional 14,227 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter worth about $144,961,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CR shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Crane and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Crane from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $167.01 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $150.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. Crane has a one year low of $127.04 and a one year high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $557.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Crane’s payout ratio is 15.94%.

Crane Company 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.