Abacus Planning Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Crane $CR

Key Points

• Abacus Planning Group Inc. invested approximately $510,000 in Crane by acquiring 2,684 shares during the second quarter.
• Research analysts have raised their price targets for Crane, with DA Davidson setting a new high target of $230.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Crane recently declared a $0.23 quarterly dividend, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.5%, and reported a net margin of 13.10% for the last quarter.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,684 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CR. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Crane by 35.8% during the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,533 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 84.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 687 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Crane by 31.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 569 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 3.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,873 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 6.8% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 141,258 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $21,638,000 after purchasing an additional 9,020 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.20.

Crane Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $179.92 on Friday. Crane has a 1-year low of $127.04 and a 1-year high of $203.89. The company's fifty day moving average is $188.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.15. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $577.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crane has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.500-5.800 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total transaction of $4,007,257.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 33,526 shares in the company, valued at $6,461,801.24. This represents a 38.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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