Nicholas Investment Partners LP Reduces Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,541 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,977 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.07% of Crane worth $6,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Crane by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Crane by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Crane by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Crane during the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Crane by 250.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Up 0.3%

CR stock opened at $175.95 on Wednesday. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $152.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.91. 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 $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.93 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.