Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 24,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,749,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 168.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 125,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 78,961 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 11.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 9,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Carpenter Technology in the first quarter valued at $325,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 4.1% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 42,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Carpenter Technology by 38.5% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949 shares during the last quarter. 92.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carpenter Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRS opened at $79.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.50. Carpenter Technology Co. has a 12 month low of $44.40 and a 12 month high of $82.16.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.56 million. Carpenter Technology had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 5.27%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Carpenter Technology Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Carpenter Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Carpenter Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Carpenter Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.68%.

Carpenter Technology Company Profile

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts.