Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) Receives $137.86 Average PT from Analysts

Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.8571.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on CRH from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CRH in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CRH from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Longbow Research initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson set a $120.00 price objective on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, February 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRH

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,117,664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,873,884,000 after purchasing an additional 14,623,673 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CRH in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,476,939,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in CRH by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,895,205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,106,927,000 after buying an additional 11,167,189 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CRH by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,709,575 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,827,252,000 after buying an additional 5,916,930 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CRH during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $295,798,000. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CRH Trading Up 3.1%

NYSE CRH opened at $105.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.14. CRH has a 12-month low of $76.75 and a 12-month high of $131.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The construction company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.15 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.02%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CRH will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.