Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,554 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,029 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,533,000 after purchasing an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crane in the fourth quarter worth approximately $144,961,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Crane by 619.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,823,000 after buying an additional 430,201 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,782,000 after acquiring an additional 29,538 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of Crane stock opened at $141.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 52 week low of $127.04 and a 52 week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CR. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.60.

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.