Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus lowered its price objective on Crane from $201 to $200 and maintained a "hold" rating, implying only about a 2.87% upside from the current share price.
• Despite Stifel's view, the consensus among analysts is a Buy with a consensus target of $223.83, and several firms (DA Davidson, Deutsche Bank) have higher targets in the $235–$238 range.
• Insiders showed confidence in the stock—CEO Max H. Mitchell purchased 1,000 shares and a director bought 150 shares recently, with insiders buying 5,464 shares (~$987,470) in the last quarter.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $201.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "hold" rating on the conglomerate's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price suggests a potential upside of 2.87% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CR. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Crane in a research note on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $238.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crane from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.83.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $194.43. The stock had a trading volume of 13,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,067. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.03. Crane has a 52 week low of $135.47 and a 52 week high of $214.31. 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 (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $581.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $572.16 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. Crane's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.75 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan D. Lynch purchased 150 shares of Crane stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $182.22 per share, for a total transaction of $27,333.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 220 shares in the company, valued at $40,088.40. The trade was a 214.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Max H. Mitchell purchased 1,000 shares of Crane stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $183.71 per share, with a total value of $183,710.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 5,464 shares of company stock worth $987,470 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 180 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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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