Crane (NYSE:CR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.23

Key Points

• Crane declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, with an annualized dividend of $0.92 and a yield of 0.48%, scheduled for payout on September 10th to shareholders of record as of August 29th.
• The company boasts a low dividend payout ratio of 14.6%, indicating strong earnings capacity to sustain its dividend payments, with an expected future payout ratio of 10.7%.
• Crane's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, holding a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $207.50 after various upgrades from different research firms.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the conglomerate on Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%.

Crane has a dividend payout ratio of 14.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Crane to earn $8.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.7%.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $190.55. 296,351 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 314,868. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $182.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.72. The firm has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $195.00.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.16. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CR. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on shares of Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $165.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, SVP Jason D. Feldman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $230,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,734,871.60. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CR. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Crane by 17.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,696 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Crane by 27.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,060 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,379,000 after acquiring an additional 4,749 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Crane by 3.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 136,776 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $20,951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 23.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 440,817 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $67,524,000 after acquiring an additional 84,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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