Crane (NYSE:CR) Holdings Lifted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 673.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,172 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,544 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.14% of Crane worth $11,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crane by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,894,887 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $578,282,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Crane by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,095,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $247,567,000 after acquiring an additional 79,710 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 685,230 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,322,850 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $156,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised 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 worth $98,354,000 after purchasing an additional 83,938 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.00.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $152.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $151.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.01. Crane has a 52 week low of $82.57 and a 52 week high of $162.34.

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

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 21.98%.

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.