Crane (NYSE:CR) Earns "Buy" Rating from DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $200.00 price objective on the conglomerate's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $215.00 price target on Crane and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.75.

Crane Trading Up 0.4%

CR stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $187.49. 152,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 273,109. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $191.00. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $160.53 and a 200-day moving average of $161.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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 0.49%. Crane's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.94%.

Insider Activity at Crane

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

Institutional Trading of Crane

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crane by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $712,533,000 after buying an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Crane by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $372,676,000 after purchasing an additional 355,765 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Crane by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $216,246,000 after buying an additional 138,279 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Crane by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 989,002 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $151,496,000 after buying an additional 12,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at about $144,961,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.