Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Takes $211,000 Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,330 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Crane by 103.3% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in Crane during the 2nd quarter worth $21,159,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Crane during the 2nd quarter worth $16,205,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Crane by 673.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 82,172 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,913,000 after buying an additional 71,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Crane by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 771,709 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $111,882,000 after buying an additional 70,297 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $179.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $160.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.16. 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 one year low of $102.80 and a one year high of $180.87.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $594.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Crane’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

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.