Quantbot Technologies LP Increases Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 112.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Crane were worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on 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 downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $152.44 on Friday. Crane has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.62.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.