Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.60.

CXT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $58.00 price target on Crane NXT in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $73.00 price objective on Crane NXT in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Crane NXT in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Crane NXT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Crane NXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane NXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Crane NXT by 4,458.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in Crane NXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Crane NXT by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,381,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,042,000 after acquiring an additional 15,516 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Crane NXT by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 10,435 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Crane NXT in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,408,000. 77.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane NXT Stock Performance

CXT opened at $46.21 on Monday. Crane NXT has a twelve month low of $41.54 and a twelve month high of $69.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.69.

Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. Crane NXT had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $476.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Crane NXT’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crane NXT will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane NXT Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from Crane NXT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Crane NXT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.69%.

About Crane NXT

Crane NXT, Co operates as an industrial technology company that provides technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate customers’ important assets. The company operates through Crane Payment Innovations and Crane Currency segments. The Crane Payment Innovations segment offers electronic equipment and associated software, as well as advanced automation solutions, processing systems, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity software solutions. The Crane Currency segment provides advanced security solutions based on proprietary technology for securing physical products, including banknotes, consumer goods, and industrial products.