Crane (NYSE:CR) Short Interest Up 9.4% in January

Crane (NYSE:CR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 475,800 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the January 15th total of 434,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 266,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter worth about $144,961,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Crane by 619.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,823,000 after acquiring an additional 430,201 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 355,765 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter worth about $45,127,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Crane by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $216,246,000 after acquiring an additional 138,279 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of Crane stock traded up $3.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $171.83. The stock had a trading volume of 220,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,855. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.20. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $118.48 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.