Select Equity Group L.P. Invests $21.16 Million in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 145,943 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $21,159,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew 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 worth $182,216,000 after buying an additional 685,230 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,205,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 13.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 727,846 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $98,354,000 after acquiring an additional 83,938 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 1,363.7% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 89,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,086,000 after purchasing an additional 83,322 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 79,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $158.86 on Friday. Crane has a 52 week low of $82.57 and a 52 week high of $162.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $581.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.33 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.