Argyle Capital Management LLC Acquires 293 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,813 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after acquiring an additional 91,029 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Crane by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Crane by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,782,000 after purchasing an additional 29,538 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 5.1% in 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 during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $160.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $161.74 and its 200-day moving average is $161.32. Crane has a 52-week low of $121.07 and a 52-week high of $188.52. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

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.