LPL Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 426 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $3,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter worth about $45,127,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,890,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Crane by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 132,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,068,000 after buying an additional 35,340 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,675,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 7.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

CR stock opened at $140.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $157.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.25. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Insider Activity

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

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.