American Century Companies Inc. Has $49.06 Million Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 323,272 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,552 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $49,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Crane by 112.2% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 16,372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,484,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Crane by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Crane by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Crane by 145.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 25,400 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Crane by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 65,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $9,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,243 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of CR opened at $156.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $188.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.38 and its 200-day moving average is $161.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s 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 $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

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.