Crane (NYSE:CR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Crane (NYSE:CR) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 271,415 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the previous session’s volume of 232,941 shares.The stock last traded at $171.59 and had previously closed at $171.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.50.

Crane Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.72.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $597.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.06%.

Institutional Trading of Crane

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CR. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Crane by 1.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,161,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter valued at $515,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in shares of Crane by 11.2% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,915 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter worth $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.