Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 228,840 Shares of Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT - Free Report) by 66.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,871 shares of the company's stock after selling 228,840 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Crane NXT worth $6,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crane NXT by 60.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 43,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 16,465 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane NXT during the fourth quarter valued at about $527,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Crane NXT by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,663 shares of the company's stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 11,734 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Crane NXT by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 396,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,224,000 after acquiring an additional 43,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crane NXT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $507,000. 77.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on CXT shares. Northland Capmk downgraded Crane NXT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Crane NXT from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Northland Securities cut Crane NXT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.33.

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Crane NXT Stock Performance

Shares of CXT traded down $0.27 on Thursday, reaching $53.43. 388,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 451,405. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.54. Crane NXT, Co. has a 52-week low of $52.89 and a 52-week high of $67.00.

Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Crane NXT had a return on equity of 24.08% and a net margin of 12.38%. On average, analysts forecast that Crane NXT, Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane NXT Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane NXT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Crane NXT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.32%.

Crane NXT Company Profile

Crane NXT, Co operates as an industrial technology company that provides technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate customers' important assets. The company operates through Crane Payment Innovations and Crane Currency segments. The Crane Payment Innovations segment offers electronic equipment and associated software, as well as advanced automation solutions, processing systems, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity software solutions.