R Squared Ltd Purchases New Position in Crh Plc $CRH

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,043 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,000. CRH comprises 1.0% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 62.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,608,567,000 after buying an additional 24,591,538 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CRH during the first quarter worth about $597,888,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in CRH by 43.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $906,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of CRH by 58,695.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,830,994 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $249,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,179 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 195.0% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,052,011 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $268,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017,484 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CRH Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CRH opened at $117.84 on Friday. Crh Plc has a 12 month low of $76.75 and a 12 month high of $121.88. The stock has a market cap of $79.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.58 and a 200 day moving average of $100.97.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 15.68%. CRH’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. CRH’s payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on CRH in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on CRH from $112.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $134.00 price objective on shares of CRH in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRH has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.71.

CRH 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.