Sutton Place Investors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Sutton Place Investors LLC bought a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,523 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crane by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,894,887 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $578,282,000 after buying an additional 16,167 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Crane by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,095,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $247,567,000 after purchasing an additional 79,710 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,322,850 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $156,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Crane by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 742,252 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $87,690,000 after buying an additional 37,388 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Crane by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 663,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,353,000 after acquiring an additional 204,924 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Crane from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.00.

Crane Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:CR traded down $4.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $139.98. 232,820 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,089. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. Crane has a one year low of $67.28 and a one year high of $146.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.16. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $565.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Crane’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

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.