Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Invests $9.45 Million in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 62,481 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $9,447,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Crane as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Aviva PLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $538,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at $12,890,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Crane by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 323,272 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $49,057,000 after purchasing an additional 8,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Crane in the fourth quarter valued at $744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Crane Stock Performance

CR traded up $5.55 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $175.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 233,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,927. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. 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 market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.80.

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

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Crane's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.