New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,480 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,853 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Crane were worth $6,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Crane by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Crane during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter worth about $246,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CR. Vertical Research raised Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Crane from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.00.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $142.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.31, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.86. Crane has a 12 month low of $67.28 and a 12 month high of $146.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

Crane 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.