Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) Shares Up 9.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Crawford & Company shares increased by 9.8%, rising from a previous close of $9.24 to a trading price of $10.15, though overall trading volume was down by 51% compared to the average.
• Despite a recent quarterly earnings report revealing earnings per share of $0.22, the company missed the consensus estimate of $0.24, and revenue was also below projections.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.075 per share, representing a 2.9% yield, with a payout ratio of 47.46%.

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B - Get Free Report) rose 9.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.50 and last traded at $10.15. Approximately 1,415 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 2,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.24.

Crawford & Company Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $10.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $491.14 million, a PE ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The business services provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $323.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $330.99 million. Crawford & Company had a return on equity of 25.91% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crawford & Company will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Crawford & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This is a boost from Crawford & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Crawford & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.85%.

Insider Transactions at Crawford & Company

In other Crawford & Company news, SVP Tami E. Stevenson sold 4,900 shares of Crawford & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $50,029.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $268,339.22. The trade was a 15.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 51.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crawford & Company Company Profile

Crawford & Co engages in the provision of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers, and corporates. It operates through the following segments: Crawford Loss Adjusting, Crawford TPA Solutions, and Crawford Platform Solutions. The Crawford Loss Adjusting segment consists of adjusting services provided to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property and casualty losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real property and certain types of personal property.