1832 Asset Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 72.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,192,456 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 500,106 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.17% of CRH worth $102,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRH. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of CRH in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CRH by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co acquired a new position in CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of CRH from $109.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of CRH from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRH currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.90.

CRH Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE CRH traded up $1.99 on Friday, reaching $81.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,793,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,184,585. CRH plc has a 1 year low of $51.59 and a 1 year high of $88.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.07 and a 200-day moving average of $78.57.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CRH plc will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd.

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.