Congruence Capital LLC Buys Shares of 100,872 Crane $CR

Congruence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 100,872 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $18,604,000. Crane accounts for about 6.8% of Congruence Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Crane by 289,020.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,855,409 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,448,773,000 after purchasing an additional 7,852,692 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter valued at $198,509,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 4,412.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 240,836 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,417,000 after buying an additional 235,499 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Crane by 114.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 439,157 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,866,000 after acquiring an additional 234,681 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 401,596 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,950,000 after acquiring an additional 215,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan D. Lynch bought 150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $177.38 per share, for a total transaction of $26,607.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,630.60. This trade represents a 68.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $206.77 on Friday. Crane has a 52-week low of $159.58 and a 52-week high of $214.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.12.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.21. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.The business had revenue of $696.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $672.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.35%.

About Crane

Crane Co, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products serving customers around the world. The company operates through two primary segments: Aerospace & Electronics and Engineered Materials. Its Aerospace & Electronics division designs and produces valves, fittings, manifolds, and filtration systems for aircraft fuel, hydraulics, and environmental control systems. The Engineered Materials segment focuses on advanced polymers, heat exchangers, and specialized composite solutions for industries including chemical processing, semiconductor manufacturing, and power generation.

With roots dating back to its founding in 1855 in Chicago by R.T.