Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,481 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 4,316 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Crane worth $5,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Crane by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Crane by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Crane by 250.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 817 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR traded up $1.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $178.05. The company had a trading volume of 258,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,595. Crane has a twelve month low of $127.04 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $153.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised Crane from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price objective on Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.20.

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.