Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Stock Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,587 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,366 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.05% of CRH worth $43,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in CRH by 158.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,670 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 5,316 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,178 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 90.5% in the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 7.4% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CRH from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CRH from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on CRH from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.86.

CRH Stock Performance

Shares of CRH stock opened at $104.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.94. Crh Plc has a fifty-two week low of $76.75 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55. The company has a market cap of $69.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.35.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The construction company reported $1.52 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 net margin of 10.02% and a return on equity of 15.98%. CRH’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.