Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.60.

CXT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Crane NXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Northland Securities set a $62.00 price target on shares of Crane NXT in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Crane NXT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $73.00 target price on shares of Crane NXT in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane NXT in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Crane NXT Price Performance

Shares of Crane NXT stock opened at $46.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 1.18. Crane NXT has a twelve month low of $41.54 and a twelve month high of $69.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.69.

Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. Crane NXT had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 8.76%.The company had revenue of $476.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Crane NXT’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Crane NXT will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane NXT Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 28th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Crane NXT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Crane NXT’s payout ratio is presently 28.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane NXT

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CXT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane NXT by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,005,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,805,000 after acquiring an additional 64,523 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Crane NXT by 2,449.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,770,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,361 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Crane NXT by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,722,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,542,000 after purchasing an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crane NXT by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,715,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,773,000 after purchasing an additional 93,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Crane NXT by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,661,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,212,000 after purchasing an additional 25,849 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.49% of the company’s stock.

Crane NXT Company Profile

Crane NXT, Co operates as an industrial technology company that provides technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate customers’ important assets. The company operates through Crane Payment Innovations and Crane Currency segments. The Crane Payment Innovations segment offers electronic equipment and associated software, as well as advanced automation solutions, processing systems, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity software solutions. The Crane Currency segment provides advanced security solutions based on proprietary technology for securing physical products, including banknotes, consumer goods, and industrial products.