Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Crane Company (NYSE:CR). The company's stock received a lot of attention from a substantial price increase on the NYSE over the last few months. The company's trading levels have reached its high for the past year, following the recent bounce in the share price. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let’s take a look at Crane’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

See our latest analysis for Crane

What's The Opportunity In Crane?

According to our valuation model, Crane seems to be fairly priced at around 7.0% below our intrinsic value, which means if you buy Crane today, you’d be paying a fair price for it. And if you believe the company’s true value is $195.71, then there’s not much of an upside to gain from mispricing. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Crane’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

Can we expect growth from Crane?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 58% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Crane. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? CR’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on CR, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for the company, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.