Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,673 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 21,511 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $75,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CR. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the first quarter worth $75,254,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Crane by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,455,854 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $372,676,000 after acquiring an additional 355,765 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Crane by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 754,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,445,000 after acquiring an additional 151,717 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Crane by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 679,768 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $104,127,000 after purchasing an additional 130,218 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Crane during the 1st quarter worth $18,835,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CR has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Crane from $187.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason D. Feldman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total transaction of $230,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,734,871.60. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $198.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.03. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $203.89.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $577.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $567.70 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

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.