Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,908 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. owned about 0.13% of Crane worth $11,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Crane by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,080,000 after purchasing an additional 8,899 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 132,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,925,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Crane by 0.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 128,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,351,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.80.

Crane Trading Up 12.3 %

CR stock opened at $175.64 on Wednesday. Crane has a 12-month low of $110.49 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $163.64 and its 200 day moving average is $158.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.06%.

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.