Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Grows Holdings in Crane $CR

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Crane by 9.9%, owning 155,237 shares valued at approximately $29.5 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Several institutional investors, including Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs, significantly increased their stakes in Crane, indicating strong institutional confidence; over 75% of Crane's stock is now owned by institutional investors.
• Crane reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with an EPS of $1.49, exceeding analyst estimates, and expects FY 2025 EPS guidance of 5.500-5.800.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,237 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 13,979 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.27% of Crane worth $29,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CR. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC increased its position in shares of Crane by 117.3% in the 1st quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 937,237 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,566,000 after purchasing an additional 505,983 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the 1st quarter worth about $75,254,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Crane by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 679,768 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $104,127,000 after purchasing an additional 130,218 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the 1st quarter worth about $18,835,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crane by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 440,817 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $67,524,000 after purchasing an additional 84,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Crane in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total value 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 approximately $6,461,801.24. This represents a 38.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Crane Trading Down 0.0%

Crane stock opened at $179.99 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $187.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $203.89.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. Crane's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Crane has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.500-5.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Crane's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

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.

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