Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Position in Carpenter Technology Corporation $CRS

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,018 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.69% of Carpenter Technology worth $108,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carpenter Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Carpenter Technology by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Carpenter Technology by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carpenter Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carpenter Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 92.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Carpenter Technology from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Carpenter Technology in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Carpenter Technology from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Carpenter Technology from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Carpenter Technology from $453.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Carpenter Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $458.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anastasios John Hart sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.86, for a total transaction of $317,895.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 750 shares in the company, valued at $317,895. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Marshall D. Akins sold 11,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.36, for a total value of $5,214,668.40. Following the sale, the vice president owned 18,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,096,307.84. This represents a 39.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Carpenter Technology Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Carpenter Technology stock opened at $524.90 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $439.73 and a 200-day moving average of $380.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.73 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25. Carpenter Technology Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.00 and a 1-year high of $537.41.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $655.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.00 million. Carpenter Technology had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.82%.The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Carpenter Technology Corporation will post 10.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Carpenter Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.42%.

Carpenter Technology Profile

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts. It serves to aerospace, defense, medical, transportation, energy, industrial, and consumer markets.