Claret Asset Management Corp Makes New Investment in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Claret Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crane by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 742,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $87,690,000 after purchasing an additional 37,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,659,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Crane by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 9,722 shares in the last quarter. JS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crane by 98.0% in the third quarter. JS Capital Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,536,000 after buying an additional 198,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,302,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.67.

Crane Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE CR traded up $3.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $147.58. The company had a trading volume of 198,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.08. Crane has a 12-month low of $72.29 and a 12-month high of $150.01.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

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.