Brokerages Set Crane (NYSE:CR) Target Price at $157.33

Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $157.33.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CR. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Crane by 2.6% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,972 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in Crane by 1,363.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 89,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,086,000 after purchasing an additional 83,322 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Crane by 9.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,447 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Crane by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Crane by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 61,357 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,291,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $168.94 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $154.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.26. Crane has a 1 year low of $98.06 and a 1 year high of $169.04. The company has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 37.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $597.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.06%.

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.