Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 441,250 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 18,188 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.77% of Crane worth $69,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Crane by 3.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,021 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Crane by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 75,410 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $10,190,000 after purchasing an additional 31,069 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Crane by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,331 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,423,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 13.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 727,846 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $98,354,000 after buying an additional 83,938 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the first quarter valued at $329,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.33.

Crane Stock Performance

CR traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $176.00. 193,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 234,142. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $156.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. Crane has a 1-year low of $99.98 and a 1-year high of $177.24. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $597.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $594.45 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. Crane's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Crane's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.06%.

Crane 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.