Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Crane (NYSE:CR)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $209.77, but opened at $201.26. Crane shares last traded at $200.4350, with a volume of 117,295 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CR. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Crane in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Crane from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research set a $215.00 target price on Crane and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Crane to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.00.

Crane Price Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.55.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $581.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $572.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.75 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 14.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CR. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Crane by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,944,444 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $542,190,000 after buying an additional 21,901 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth about $190,533,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Crane by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 864,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $164,135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,744 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Crane by 2.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 776,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $143,022,000 after purchasing an additional 17,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Crane by 1.1% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 736,943 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $139,938,000 after buying an additional 8,151 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Company Profile

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.