Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 564,441 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,310 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Crane were worth $81,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Capital International Investors increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 685,230 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,659,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,205,000. 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. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Crane by 13.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 727,846 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $98,354,000 after acquiring an additional 83,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CR stock opened at $154.62 on Thursday. Crane has a 1 year low of $82.57 and a 1 year high of $162.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.45, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.06. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Crane’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.00.

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.