Crane (NYSE:CR) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.20.

CR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price target on shares of Crane and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised Crane from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Crane Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:CR traded down $4.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.62. 239,750 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 267,309. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.57. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $557.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.93 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid 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 yield of 0.54%. Crane's dividend payout ratio is 15.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $144,961,000. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC increased its position in shares of Crane by 117.3% during the first quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 937,237 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $143,566,000 after buying an additional 505,983 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the first quarter valued at about $75,254,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 619.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $75,823,000 after buying an additional 430,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Crane by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $372,676,000 after acquiring an additional 355,765 shares during the period. 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.