Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Position in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 84.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,059 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,559 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.20% of Crane worth $17,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter valued at $144,961,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Crane by 619.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 499,656 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $75,823,000 after purchasing an additional 430,201 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter worth about $45,127,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Crane by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $216,246,000 after purchasing an additional 138,279 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,890,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $140.81 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.15. Crane has a twelve month low of $127.04 and a twelve month high of $188.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (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 net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Crane 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.