DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its price objective raised by research analysts at DA Davidson from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.55% from the company’s previous close.

CR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $170.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $162.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.97. Crane has a twelve month low of $118.48 and a twelve month high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Crane by 16.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in Crane by 5.1% in the third 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. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Crane by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.