Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Purchases New Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,392 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crane by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,625 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,196 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Crane by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Crane by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Crane by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,037 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CR. UBS Group set a $215.00 price target on shares of Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.75.

Crane Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of CR stock traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $188.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 311,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,753. The company has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $169.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.74. Crane has a 52 week low of $127.04 and a 52 week high of $191.00.

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

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Crane's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, SVP Jason D. Feldman sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total transaction of $230,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,734,871.60. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Crane 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.