Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,767 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CR. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Crane by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,071 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 390.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,890 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after buying an additional 14,241 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $240,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 36,446 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,769,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 68,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $157.35 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.79. Crane has a twelve month low of $98.06 and a twelve month high of $163.48.

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

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.33.

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.