Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC Buys 3,200 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 50.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after buying an additional 91,029 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Crane by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in Crane by 5.1% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 183,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,080,000 after buying an additional 8,899 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 132,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,925,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Crane by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 128,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,351,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Trading Up 12.3 %

Crane stock opened at $175.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.67. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. Crane has a 12-month low of $110.49 and a 12-month high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CR shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.80.

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.