Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 93.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,018 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 17,848 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.06% of Crane worth $5,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Crane by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Crane by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised shares of Crane from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 target price on shares of Crane and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.20.

Crane Trading Up 0.3%

CR traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.95. 178,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,574. The firm's fifty day moving average is $151.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.80. Crane has a 1-year low of $127.04 and a 1-year high of $188.52. The company has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a PEG 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $546.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.94%.

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.