Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Carpenter Technology has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 8 of 10 covering firms recommending the stock. The average 12-month price target among updated brokerages is $481.75.
• Recent analyst moves were mostly positive, including price target increases from JPMorgan, Susquehanna, Deutsche Bank, and KeyCorp, with KeyCorp raising its target sharply to $644. Weiss Ratings was the only notable downgrade mentioned.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings of $2.77 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year. Shares have also performed strongly, recently opening at $597.44 near their 52-week high.

Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $481.75.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Carpenter Technology from $465.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Carpenter Technology from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Carpenter Technology from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Carpenter Technology in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Carpenter Technology from $459.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anastasios John Hart sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.86, for a total transaction of $317,895.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,895. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Marshall D. Akins sold 11,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.36, for a total value of $5,214,668.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 18,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,096,307.84. The trade was a 39.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carpenter Technology

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Carpenter Technology by 1,211.3% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 695 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 7.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 498.4% in the first quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp now owns 6,301 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new position in Carpenter Technology in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,838,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Carpenter Technology by 43.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 92.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Carpenter Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Carpenter Technology stock opened at $597.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.73 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50-day moving average is $495.57 and its 200-day moving average is $412.79. Carpenter Technology has a one year low of $228.00 and a one year high of $624.50.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $655.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.00 million. Carpenter Technology had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.82%.Carpenter Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Carpenter Technology will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Carpenter Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.42%.

About Carpenter Technology

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts. It serves to aerospace, defense, medical, transportation, energy, industrial, and consumer markets.

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