Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Diametric Capital LP

Diametric Capital LP lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,568 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. Diametric Capital LP’s holdings in Crane were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Crane during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Crane by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Crane by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Crane Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $154.85 on Wednesday. Crane has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $188.52. 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 cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.13.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CR shares. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

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.