State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Holdings in Crane $CR

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Crane by 15.0%, selling 2,772 shares during the first quarter of 2023.
• Crane reported quarterly earnings of $1.49 EPS, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $577.20 million, which represents a 9.2% increase year-over-year.
• Several analysts have upgraded their target prices for Crane, with a new average price target of $222.20 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,711 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,772 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Crane were worth $2,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 842,240 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $129,011,000 after purchasing an additional 44,360 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 776,038 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $118,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 7.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,878 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $7,334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Crane during the first quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Crane during the first quarter valued at $75,254,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CR. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.20.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR traded down $1.9930 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $192.2370. 272,878 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 310,328. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $189.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.06. Crane has a one year low of $127.04 and a one year high of $203.89. 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 has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Crane's payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

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.