Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Crane (NYSE:CR)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $198.26 and traded as high as $202.09. Crane shares last traded at $200.3750, with a volume of 282,046 shares traded.

Key Stories Impacting Crane

Here are the key news stories impacting Crane this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Crane from “Hold” to “Strong Buy,” a potentially supportive analyst signal for the shares. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also included CR on its Rank #1 (Strong Buy) list and in momentum-stock coverage. Separate Zacks articles cited manufacturing activity reaching a three-month high and a possible shift toward cyclical stocks as themes that could favor Crane. These overlapping mentions may reinforce positive sentiment, but they are not separate company-specific catalysts. Zacks Strong Buy stocks article Zacks manufacturing article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $240.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Crane from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Crane from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $255.00 price objective on Crane in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crane presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.00.

Crane Stock Up 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $202.00 and a 200 day moving average of $198.26.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.23. Crane had a net margin of 12.41% and a return on equity of 19.17%. The business had revenue of $756.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $737.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a $0.2550 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Crane’s payout ratio is 17.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, Director James Tullis sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $138,150.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,421 shares in the company, valued at $1,219,725. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Crane by 403.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 624 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Asset Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in Crane by 216.5% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Company is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products serving customers in aerospace, defense and process industries. Founded in 1855 by Richard Teller Crane, the company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and serves markets around the world.

Its Aerospace & Electronics business makes products and systems used in commercial and military aircraft, including sensing and control technologies, power solutions and microwave components. Its Process Flow Technologies business supplies pumps, valves and related equipment for managing the movement and control of fluids in industrial applications.

Crane Company operates as an independent public company following the 2023 separation of Crane NXT, which became a separate business.