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Crane (CR) Share Price Increases 21% YTD: What's Driving It?

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Shares of Crane Co. (CR - Free Report) have gained notably since the beginning of 2021. Diversified business structure, solid product offerings and a focus on innovation as well as improving order trend seem to have boosted sentiments for the stock.

The Stamford, CT-based company belongs to the Zacks Diversified Operations industry. Notably, the industry is in the top 44% (with rank of 111) of more than 250 Zacks Industries. The company currently has a $5.5-billion market capitalization and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

So far in 2021, the company’s shares have gained 20.9% compared with the industry’s growth of 9.5%. Notably, the S&P 500 has risen 9.7% during the same period.



 

Factors Influencing the Stock

Year to date, Crane has reported results for fourth-quarter 2020, with both earnings and sales missing consensus estimates by 8.3% and 2.8%, respectively. After releasing results and projections of 2021 in January, the company hiked its projections for the year in the following month, citing an impressive recovery in end-markets served.

As communicated in February, improvement witnessed in pharmaceutical, general industrial and chemical markets will benefit the Fluid Handling segment. Then again, the Aerospace and Electronics segment is likely to gain from advancements in sensing, power conversion, thermal management, electrification and space markets. Also, recovery in automation, security and productivity businesses will likely aid the Payment and Merchandising Technologies segment.

In addition to the aforementioned factors, Crane’s initiatives to boost growth opportunities are likely to be tailwinds. Prime area of focus includes commercial excellence, product development, localization, innovation and technology. Also, synergistic gains from acquired assets and benefits from favorable foreign currency movements are anticipated to boost sales by $5 million and 1.5%, respectively.

For 2021, Crane increased its net sales projection to $3,080 million from the earlier mentioned $3,055 million. The revised guidance suggests year-over-year growth of 5% or 2-4% organically. Earnings are anticipated to be $5.00-$5.20 per share, higher than the previously mentioned $4.90-$5.10. On a year-over-year basis, the bottom-line estimate suggests an increase of 33%.

Currently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s earnings is pegged at $5.12 for 2021 and $6.14 for 2022, marking an increase of 1.8% and 1.7% from the respective 60-day-ago figures. Also, the estimate for the first quarter improved from $1.20 to $1.31 per share. Such an upward revision in earnings estimates is reflective of healthy operating conditions for the company.

Crane Co. Price and Consensus

 

Crane Co. Price and Consensus

Crane Co. price-consensus-chart | Crane Co. Quote

Crane’s Price Performance Versus Industry Players

Year to date, Crane has outperformed other players in the same industry, including Danaher Corporation (DHR - Free Report) , ITT Inc. (ITT - Free Report) and Carlisle Companies Incorporated (CSL - Free Report) . Notably, shares of Danaher gained 3.5% since the beginning of 2021, and that of ITT and Carlisle increased 18.3% and 8.7%, respectively.

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