Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 53,040 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 292% from the previous session’s volume of 13,531 shares.The stock last traded at $12.3090 and had previously closed at $11.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Zacks Research raised shares of Crawford & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crawford & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Crawford & Company Trading Up 9.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $598.39 million, a P/E ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.56.

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $321.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.09 million. Crawford & Company had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 28.15%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crawford & Company will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Crawford & Company

In other news, EVP Andrew Bart sold 10,118 shares of Crawford & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $133,254.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,277 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,818.09. This trade represents a 9.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jesse C. Crawford sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $12,810,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,447,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,968,478.28. The trade was a 18.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,020,093 shares of company stock worth $13,075,773 over the last quarter. Insiders own 51.04% of the company’s stock.

Crawford & Company Company Profile

Crawford & Company is a global provider of independent claims management and related services for the insurance and risk management industries. The company supports insurers, brokers, corporations, and government entities with services that span the claims lifecycle, including loss adjusting, claims administration, third-party administration, and claims management technology.

Its offerings cover property and casualty claims, workers’ compensation, automobile claims, transportation-related losses, specialty claims, and legal settlement services.