Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Acquires 862 Shares of Crane $CR

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,794 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Crane by 0.7% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Crane by 15.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,918 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Crane by 9.9% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 155,237 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,478,000 after purchasing an additional 13,979 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. bought a new position in Crane during the second quarter valued at $510,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Crane by 4.9% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crane Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:CR opened at $183.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $184.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.32. Crane has a 1 year low of $127.04 and a 1 year high of $203.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.15. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.The company had revenue of $577.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crane has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.500-5.800 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 20,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.74, for a total value of $4,007,257.34. Following the sale, the vice president owned 33,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,461,801.24. This trade represents a 38.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CR. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Crane from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Crane from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on Crane from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Crane in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.20.

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.