Crane (NYSE:CR) Receives $143.67 Average Price Target from Analysts

Crane (NYSE:CR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $143.67.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 103.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,348,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $182,216,000 after purchasing an additional 685,230 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,659,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter worth about $21,302,000. JS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 98.0% in the third quarter. JS Capital Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,536,000 after buying an additional 198,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in shares of Crane by 313.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 145,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,181,000 after acquiring an additional 110,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

CR opened at $144.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $82.57 and a fifty-two week high of $150.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $144.04 and a 200 day moving average of $130.79.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Crane’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio 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.