Ethic Inc. Boosts Position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 82.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,760 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,603 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in CRH were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in CRH by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,781,004,000 after purchasing an additional 4,687,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRH by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,624,719,000 after buying an additional 145,101 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRH by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,788,918 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 2,437,868 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CRH in the fourth quarter worth about $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of CRH by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $796,546,000 after buying an additional 826,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CRH. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 price objective on CRH in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on CRH in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

CRH Price Performance

NYSE CRH opened at $97.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.29. CRH plc has a 1-year low of $71.18 and a 1-year high of $110.97.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 16.35%. On average, analysts anticipate that CRH plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. CRH’s payout ratio is 23.52%.

CRH Company Profile

CRH plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides building materials solutions in Ireland and internationally. It operates through four segments: Americas Materials Solutions, Americas Building Solutions, Europe Materials Solutions, and Europe Building Solutions. The company provides solutions for the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure and commercial and residential buildings; and produces and sells aggregates, cement, readymixed concrete, and asphalt, as well as provides paving and construction services.