PEAK6 Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

PEAK6 Investments LLC lowered its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,327 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 27,905 shares during the quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,159,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Crane during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,205,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Crane by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after acquiring an additional 91,029 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 673.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 82,172 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,913,000 after acquiring an additional 71,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Crane by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 771,709 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $111,882,000 after acquiring an additional 70,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

Crane Price Performance

Shares of Crane stock opened at $182.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.07. Crane has a 52 week low of $102.80 and a 52 week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.06. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $597.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $594.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Crane’s payout ratio is 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.