Analysts Set Crane (NYSE:CR) PT at $167.00

Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd.

Crane Stock Down 1.8 %

CR stock opened at $181.60 on Friday. Crane has a twelve month low of $102.80 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $163.82 and its 200-day moving average is $153.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $594.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Institutional Trading of Crane

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CR. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Crane in the second quarter worth $21,159,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the second quarter valued at $16,205,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at $17,062,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Crane by 673.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 82,172 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,913,000 after purchasing an additional 71,544 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.