BNP Paribas Financial Markets Invests $5.53 Million in Crane (NYSE:CR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 36,453 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $5,532,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.06% of Crane as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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 target price on Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upgraded Crane from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.20.

Crane Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Crane stock traded up $1.93 on Friday, hitting $178.05. 258,044 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 266,595. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $153.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Crane's dividend 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.