Retirement Systems of Alabama Invests $17.80 Million in Crh Plc $CRH

Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 142,589 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,795,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRH. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in CRH in the third quarter valued at about $295,798,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in CRH by 45.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,031,903 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $553,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881,550 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CRH during the third quarter worth about $209,825,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRH by 9,615.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,386,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CRH by 229.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,811,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $217,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CRH shares. Longbow Research began coverage on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson set a $120.00 price target on shares of CRH in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CRH from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CRH from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.86.

CRH Stock Up 1.0%

CRH stock opened at $106.20 on Thursday. Crh Plc has a 52 week low of $76.75 and a 52 week high of $131.55. The company has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.05.

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

CRH Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase 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 1.5%. CRH’s payout ratio is currently 28.26%.

CRH Company Profile

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.