Crane $CR Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in Crane by 11.2%, owning 443,624 shares valued at approximately $67,954,000 after selling 56,032 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple financial analysts have increased their target prices for Crane, with Deutsche Bank setting a new target of $226.00 and four analysts issuing a "Buy" rating, indicating strong market confidence in the stock.
• Crane's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $1.49, up from $1.20 the previous year, and the company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share on September 10th.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 443,624 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 56,032 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.77% of Crane worth $67,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CR. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Crane by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,037 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,532,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Crane by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 293,542 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,545,000 after buying an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Crane by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,202 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Crane by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,196 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the firm'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 sale, the vice president directly owned 33,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,461,801.24. This trade represents a 38.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crane Stock Down 0.6%

CR opened at $184.03 on Friday. Crane has a 12 month low of $127.04 and a 12 month high of $203.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $190.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.18.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.

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