Crane (NYSE:CR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.21

Crane (NYSE:CR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of 0.205 per share by the conglomerate on Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st.

Crane has decreased its dividend by an average of 16.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Crane has a dividend payout ratio of 14.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Crane to earn $8.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.82 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.6%.

Crane Price Performance

NYSE:CR traded up $7.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $138.11. 424,297 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 239,971. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a twelve month low of $67.28 and a twelve month high of $139.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.69 and its 200-day moving average is $115.30. The firm has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $565.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CR shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Crane from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.00.

About Crane

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.