Crane (NYSE:CR) Position Lessened by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,103 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,622 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $26,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Crane by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 328.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after purchasing an additional 18,236 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Crane in the third quarter worth about $56,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Crane by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,717 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $95,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Crane Price Performance

NYSE CR opened at $158.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $162.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.77. Crane has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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.