CRH (NYSE:CRH) Price Target Raised to $108.00

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its CRH price target from $106 to $108 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying approximately 12.08% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 19 analysts rate CRH a Buy and one rates it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $125.08.
• CRH shares rose 6.1% to $96.36 in Monday trading. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.09, slightly ahead of expectations, while revenue increased 3% year over year to $11.40 billion but fell short of estimates.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the construction company's stock. Citigroup's price objective points to a potential upside of 12.08% from the company's previous close.

CRH has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CRH from $147.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of CRH from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of CRH from $131.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price target on CRH in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded CRH from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $125.08.

CRH Trading Up 6.1%

NYSE:CRH traded up $5.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $96.36. 3,594,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,968,954. CRH has a fifty-two week low of $78.62 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.24.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. CRH had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $11.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that CRH will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of CRH

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRH. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRH during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CRH during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CRH during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Eastern Bank grew its position in CRH by 36.5% during the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 550 shares of the construction company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CRH by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 582 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company that supplies products and solutions used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement and other construction materials, as well as value-added products such as precast concrete, architectural products and site-development solutions.

The company serves customers across North America and Europe, including contractors, construction companies, infrastructure developers, distributors and public-sector organizations.

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