Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America has raised its price target for Crane (NYSE:CR) from $220.00 to $225.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.32% from the current price.
• Analysts from DA Davidson and UBS Group also set higher price targets of $230.00, while Crane has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among four analysts.
• Crane reported earnings of $1.49 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 9.2% year-over-year, highlighting strong financial performance.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $220.00 to $225.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate's stock.

CR has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crane has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.20.

Crane Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Crane stock traded up $5.4760 during trading on Thursday, hitting $194.1760. 342,737 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 310,563. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $189.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.07. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $203.89.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $577.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $567.70 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.Crane's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Crane has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.500-5.800 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Crane's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,780,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Crane by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 797,880 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $121,080,000 after acquiring an additional 5,509 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,428 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 96.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,888 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 258.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,331 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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.