Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Buys 1,388 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $8,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CR. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Crane by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Crane by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Crane by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Crane by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Crane by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other 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 value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CR stock opened at $162.95 on Friday. 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 $121.07 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $161.94 and its 200 day moving average is $161.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.