Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 328.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,765,000 after buying an additional 18,236 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Crane during the third quarter worth $56,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Crane by 44.5% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,717 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Crane during the third quarter valued at $95,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crane Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $160.32 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.90. Crane has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Crane 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.