Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,319 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,357 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.11% of Crane worth $9,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CR. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth about $86,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of Crane stock opened at $152.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.02 and a 200 day moving average of $161.62. Crane has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

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.