Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. CR has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with CR positions at the end of the previous quarter.
If you’d ask most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as slow, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we choose to focus on the bigwigs of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by monitoring their best picks, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see all of our picks from August).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Crane Co. (NYSE:CR).
Hedge fund activity in Crane Co. (NYSE:CR)
In preparation for this year, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in Crane Co. (NYSE:CR). GAMCO Investors has a $173 million position in the stock, comprising 1.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $45 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Alexander Roepers’s Atlantic Investment Management.
Consequently, key hedge funds have jumped into Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) headfirst. CR Intrinsic Investors, managed by SAC Subsidiary, assembled the most outsized position in Crane Co. (NYSE:CR). CR Intrinsic Investors had 3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new CR position is Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Crane Co. (NYSE:CR)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by our research, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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