Panagora Asset Management Inc. Makes New $213,000 Investment in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,799 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CR shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.50.

Crane Stock Up 0.6 %

Crane stock opened at $147.07 on Friday. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $72.29 and a fifty-two week high of $150.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Crane’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

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.