Short Interest in Crane (NYSE:CR) Rises By 45.4%

Crane (NYSE:CR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 620,300 shares, an increase of 45.4% from the October 15th total of 426,600 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 217,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Crane from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Crane from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crane currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.33.

Crane Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CR traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.50. The company had a trading volume of 121,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,733. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $158.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.35. 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 has a one year low of $102.80 and a one year high of $180.87.

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

Crane Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Crane’s payout ratio is 18.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CR. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Crane by 1.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crane by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,038 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Crane by 81.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crane by 1.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 104 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.