Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 4,316 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,481 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,316 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $5,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Crane by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Crane by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Crane by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Crane by 250.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Crane Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CR opened at $175.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.91.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $546.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.94%.

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.