Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Shares in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. invested $228,000 in Crane by purchasing 1,489 shares during the 1st quarter, marking a significant stake in the company.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Crane, with Huntington National Bank notably raising its position by 487.8% in the fourth quarter.
• Crane's recent quarterly earnings report exceeded expectations, with an EPS of $1.39, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.29, reflecting a 9.3% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,489 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Crane by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Crane by 104.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Crane by 31.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 569 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Crane by 84.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 687 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Crane during the first quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $165.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on shares of Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $207.50.

Crane Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE CR traded up $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.56. The company had a trading volume of 270,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,038. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a one year low of $127.04 and a one year high of $195.00. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. The company's fifty day moving average is $182.75 and its 200-day moving average is $166.63.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $557.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.93 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Crane's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, SVP Jason D. Feldman sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $230,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,734,871.60. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.