Crane Highlights Its Payment Growth Opportunities, While Fluid Handling End-Markets Improve

Above-average exposure to later-stage markets like aerospace, chemicals, energy, and municipal water is certainly not hurting Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) these days, even though the performance of its Fluid Handling business left something to be desired in the second quarter. I thought I saw some value in Crane shares when I last wrote about the company after second-quarter earnings, but I didn’t foresee the 12% jump the shares have delivered in such a relatively short time.

Management’s recent Investor Day focused on the Payment and Merchandising Technologies (or PMT) business certainly won’t hurt sentiment, as management laid out some good arguments for above-average growth. What’s more, Crane’s valve business (the bulk of Fluid Handling) should see improving results as companies like Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) continue to report healthy demand from key process automation end-markets like oil/gas, chemicals, and so on. I don’t find the valuation particularly cheap now, but the company’s market exposures should give it a better-than-peers chance of beat-and-raise quarters for a little while yet.

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Crane Highlights Its Payment Growth Opportunities, While Fluid Handling End-Markets Improve