Comerica Bank Lowers Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Comerica Bank lowered its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,732 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Crane were worth $3,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Crane by 19.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,017 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Crane by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 128,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,351,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Crane by 619.1% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,129 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $166.54 on Wednesday. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.93 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Crane’s payout ratio is 15.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised Crane from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price target on Crane and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.20.

Crane Company Profile

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.