Ninety One UK Ltd Buys 158,831 Shares of Crh Plc $CRH

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,445,819 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 158,831 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in CRH were worth $430,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CRH during the third quarter worth about $295,798,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in CRH during the third quarter worth about $209,825,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $173,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,652 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in CRH by 229.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,811,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $217,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in CRH by 53.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,336,263 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $400,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,309 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CRH Price Performance

CRH stock opened at $117.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $112.71 and a 200-day moving average of $117.98. Crh Plc has a fifty-two week low of $81.60 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CRH shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of CRH from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CRH from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 target price on shares of CRH in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.54.

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.