CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) Shares Bought by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 86.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,694 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,897 shares during the quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in CRH were worth $3,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of CRH during the 1st quarter valued at $71,172,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRH during the 4th quarter valued at $3,358,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 211.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,683 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,337,000 after acquiring an additional 26,276 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 2,426.7% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,826,501 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $195,481,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRH during the 1st quarter valued at $4,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stephens started coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CRH from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.90.

CRH Price Performance

Shares of CRH traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,793,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,184,585. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.63. CRH plc has a 52 week low of $51.59 and a 52 week high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. Equities analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

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

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.