Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 150 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Carret Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,510 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Crane by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Crane by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crane by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 66,664 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,876,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 27,491 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Crane by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,460 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Vertical Research upgraded Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price target on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.00.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CR traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $142.47. 59,932 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 240,817. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.65. 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 has a 52 week low of $67.28 and a 52 week high of $143.67.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

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.