Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Crane $CR

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Crane by 2.4%, selling 1,313 shares and holding 53,734 shares worth approximately $8.23 million.
• A significant insider transaction involved VP Alejandro Alcala selling 20,791 shares for over $4 million, which marks a 38.28% decrease in his position.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Crane, with Bank of America setting it to $225 and Deutsche Bank raising it to $226, reinforcing a general sentiment of a "buy" rating on the stock.

Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,734 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,313 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Crane worth $8,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 104.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the first quarter worth $76,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Crane by 31.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 569 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Crane by 84.7% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 687 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the first quarter worth $105,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total transaction of $4,007,257.34. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 33,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,461,801.24. The trade was a 38.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR stock traded down $6.69 on Friday, reaching $185.28. The stock had a trading volume of 425,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,517. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50-day moving average is $191.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. Crane has a 12 month low of $127.04 and a 12 month high of $203.89.

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

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.31%.

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.