Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 45.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,689 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 31,962 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.07% of Crane worth $5,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CR. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Crane by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,918 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,736,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Crane by 13.1% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,001 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Crane by 8.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Crane by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,915 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Crane Price Performance

Shares of CR stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $140.81. The stock had a trading volume of 415,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,796. Crane has a 12-month low of $127.04 and a 12-month high of $188.52. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.13. The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Crane's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

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.