StockNews.com Downgrades Crane (NYSE:CR) to Hold

Crane (NYSE:CR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE CR opened at $171.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Crane has a 1 year low of $118.48 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.85.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Crane by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Crane by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,038 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.