Stifel Nicolaus Downgrades Crane (NYSE:CR) to Hold

Crane (NYSE:CR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $176.00 price objective on the conglomerate’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.44% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.50.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR stock opened at $173.50 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $158.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.51. Crane has a 52 week low of $102.80 and a 52 week high of $180.87. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $594.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Crane’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Crane by 103.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,348,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $182,216,000 after purchasing an additional 685,230 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Crane by 10.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 771,709 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $111,882,000 after purchasing an additional 70,297 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Crane by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 655,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,748,000 after purchasing an additional 91,029 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Crane by 1.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 430,543 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.