New England Research & Management Inc. Takes Position in Crh Plc $CRH

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 8,892 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in CRH by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CRH in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRH by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 39,156 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRH has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CRH from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CRH from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CRH from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRH currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.86.

CRH Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of CRH opened at $100.41 on Friday. Crh Plc has a 52-week low of $76.75 and a 52-week high of $131.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.49. The company has a market capitalization of $67.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.68). CRH had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.02%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. CRH has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.600-6.050 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.26%.

About CRH

CRH plc, originally formed as Cement Roadstone Holdings in 1970 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global building materials group. The company has grown from its Irish roots into one of the largest international suppliers of construction materials, expanding primarily through acquisitions and regional business development. CRH operates an integrated network of manufacturing and distribution businesses that serve both public and private construction markets.

CRH’s core activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, cement, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and other bulk materials, together with a broad range of value-added building products such as precast concrete, masonry, bricks, roofing products, pipe and drainage systems, and construction accessories.