Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 64,142 Shares of Crane $CR

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its Crane stake by 74.5%, purchasing 64,142 shares to hold 150,211 shares worth $27.7 million (about 0.26% of the company).
• Crane beat quarterly expectations with $1.53 EPS versus $1.43 expected and $581 million in revenue, raised FY2026 guidance to $6.55–6.75 EPS, while analysts’ average forecast for the year is 7.87 EPS.
• Management and insiders have been buying shares (including the CEO), the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.255 (annualized $1.02, yield 0.6%), and analysts on average rate the stock Buy with a $223.83 price target.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 74.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,211 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 64,142 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.26% of Crane worth $27,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Crane by 1,021.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 72,508 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,373,000 after purchasing an additional 66,042 shares during the period. SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at $1,725,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at $226,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Crane by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,797 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its stake in Crane by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crane Price Performance

Crane stock opened at $180.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. Crane has a 52 week low of $142.07 and a 52 week high of $214.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.18 and a 200-day moving average of $188.28.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.10. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.The company had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $572.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Crane's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This is an increase from Crane's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Crane's payout ratio is presently 16.32%.

Insider Activity at Crane

In other news, Director Susan D. Lynch acquired 150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $182.22 per share, with a total value of $27,333.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 220 shares in the company, valued at $40,088.40. The trade was a 214.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Max H. Mitchell acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $183.71 per share, for a total transaction of $183,710.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 410,667 shares in the company, valued at $75,443,634.57. This represents a 0.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 5,464 shares of company stock worth $987,470 over the last 90 days. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $238.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Crane in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Crane from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Crane from $201.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $223.83.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Co, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products serving customers around the world. The company operates through two primary segments: Aerospace & Electronics and Engineered Materials. Its Aerospace & Electronics division designs and produces valves, fittings, manifolds, and filtration systems for aircraft fuel, hydraulics, and environmental control systems. The Engineered Materials segment focuses on advanced polymers, heat exchangers, and specialized composite solutions for industries including chemical processing, semiconductor manufacturing, and power generation.

With roots dating back to its founding in 1855 in Chicago by R.T.

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