Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Has $1.05 Million Stock Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,917 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,256 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Crane by 14.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Crane by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 99.3% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 1.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,765 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Crane by 18.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $134.85 on Monday. Crane has a twelve month low of $67.28 and a twelve month high of $139.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. 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 (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.09. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $519.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.205 dividend. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Crane’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CR shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Crane from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.00.

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.