Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,710 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Crane by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Crane by 81.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crane by 29.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $158.60 on Tuesday. Crane has a 12 month low of $82.57 and a 12 month high of $162.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $152.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.95.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.17.

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.