QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Crane $CR

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,918 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 254 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Crane were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 104.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 27,622 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,231,000 after buying an additional 6,664 shares during the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Crane by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 99,856 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,296,000 after buying an additional 14,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Crane during the 1st quarter valued at $339,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total transaction of $4,007,257.34. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 33,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,461,801.24. This represents a 38.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CR shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.20.

Crane Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Crane stock opened at $175.21 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $186.34 and a 200 day moving average of $176.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. Crane has a 1 year low of $127.04 and a 1 year high of $203.89.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.15. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $577.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $567.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Crane’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crane has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.500-5.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 15.31%.

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.