Alejandro Alcala Sells 2,293 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock

Crane (NYSE:CR) VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Crane Stock Down 1.0 %

CR stock opened at $171.68 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.92. Crane has a 52 week low of $118.48 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter valued at about $884,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Crane by 81.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 5.5% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,710 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crane during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Crane by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,983 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.