Crane (NYSE:CR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Crane (NYSE:CR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Crane from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $129.54. 314,801 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 237,226. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.60. Crane has a one year low of $67.28 and a one year high of $139.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $519.55 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 1,363.7% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 89,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,086,000 after acquiring an additional 83,322 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the first quarter worth $210,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 2.6% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,972 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 9.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 65,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,886,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 1.1% during the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Crane

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.