Naviter Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 1,413 Crane (NYSE:CR)

Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,413 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter worth $12,890,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,113 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,142,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,675,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 17.8% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR stock opened at $154.29 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.75. Crane has a one year low of $127.82 and a one year high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

About Crane

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.