Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 345,713 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 25,041 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $40,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Crane by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,095,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $247,567,000 after purchasing an additional 79,710 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Crane by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 742,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $87,690,000 after buying an additional 37,388 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Crane by 44.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 663,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,353,000 after buying an additional 204,924 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter worth about $59,659,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crane by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 9,722 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.67.

Crane Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $142.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 52-week low of $79.26 and a 52-week high of $150.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $142.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.39 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.98%.

Crane Company 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.