Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Crane (NYSE:CR) Price Target to $144.00

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $170.00 to $144.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

CR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.40.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $141.29 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.77. 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 twelve month low of $127.04 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $144,961,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 619.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,823,000 after purchasing an additional 430,201 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Crane by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $372,676,000 after buying an additional 355,765 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,127,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Crane by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 754,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,445,000 after buying an additional 151,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.