Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 37,388 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 742,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,388 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.31% of Crane worth $87,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Crane by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the fourth quarter worth $207,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.50.

Crane Price Performance

CR opened at $146.14 on Friday. Crane has a 12-month low of $72.02 and a 12-month high of $150.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.51. The company has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $565.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 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.