CR - Crane touches record high as spinoff of payment business looms

Crane Holdings ( NYSE: CR ) on Thursday hit a record high of $122.36 a share, bringing its year-to-date gains to more than 20%. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index ( SP500 ) has advanced 3.6% during that time.

The maker of industrial products is in the process of spinning off its payment technologies business into a new publicly traded company called Crane NXT. Crane ( CR ) this week named Christina Christiano as CFO of Crane NXT, which will become a separate company on April 3.

Crane ( CR ) in January reported a 63% yearly gain in adjusted EPS to $2.13 for Q4, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90.

The company’s aerospace and electronics segment boosted sales by 15% from a year earlier, though supply-chain bottlenecks constrained growth.

During its earnings call with investors, management said ongoing supply-chain issues this year likely would cap sales growth at 10%, though there is a possibility for additional gains if the bottlenecks ease.

Crane and Crane NXT will host separate investor day events in New York on March 9.

Seeking Alpgha columnist Stephen Simpson rates Crane ( CR ) as a Hold based on its current valuation . Contributor Jon Seyhun has a Sell rating on Crane ( CR ) because of the timing of stock sales by company insiders .

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