Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Crane (NYSE:CR) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $144.00 to $150.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential downside of 8.13% from the stock’s current price.

CR has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised Crane from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 target price on Crane and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.20.

Crane Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CR stock opened at $163.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.10.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $557.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crane by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,695,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $712,533,000 after buying an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Crane by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $372,676,000 after acquiring an additional 355,765 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Crane by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $216,246,000 after purchasing an additional 138,279 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 976,497 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $148,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,961,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.