Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Crane Co. (NYSE:CR – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.00.

CR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Crane from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Crane from $137.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, April 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Crane in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Crane from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 31st.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Crane by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,215,120 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $115,205,000 after buying an additional 596,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crane during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,606,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,516,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Crane by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 997,287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $94,552,000 after acquiring an additional 273,292 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 2,532.8% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 250,665 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,500,000 after acquiring an additional 241,144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.73% of the company’s stock.

CR stock opened at $105.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.56. Crane has a 1 year low of $84.68 and a 1 year high of $114.87.

Crane (NYSE:CR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. Crane had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.46%. The company had revenue of $770.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Crane’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

About Crane (Get Rating)

Crane Co, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The Aerospace & Electronics segment offers original equipment and aftermarket parts under the Hydro-Aire, ELDEC, Lear Romec, P.L.

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