Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 139,526 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 814,255 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 139,526 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.42% of Crane worth $128,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Crane during the third quarter valued at $28,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Crane during the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Crane by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

CR stock opened at $159.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.38 and its 200 day moving average is $156.19. Crane has a 52 week low of $110.20 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $594.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Crane’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.00.

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.