Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC Sells 1,626 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,730 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,626 shares during the quarter. Crane makes up approximately 0.1% of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Crane worth $9,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at about $144,961,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,127,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,890,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 93,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,805,000 after buying an additional 37,581 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Crane Price Performance

Crane stock opened at $152.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $188.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $162.32 and its 200-day moving average is $161.87.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.