UBS Group Cuts CRH (NYSE:CRH) Price Target to $135.00

Key Points

• UBS Group lowered its CRH price target from $147 to $135 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 54.9% upside from the stock’s $87.14 price.
• CRH shares have declined significantly, trading near their 12-month low of $85.46 and below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Analysts nevertheless maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target of $138.77.
• CRH exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $2.21 per share versus the $2.02 consensus and revenue of $10.78 billion, up 5.6% year over year.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $147.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the construction company's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 54.93% from the company's current price.

CRH has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of CRH from $132.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Citigroup downgraded CRH from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CRH from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 target price on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRH currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.77.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.14. The stock had a trading volume of 929,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,846,745. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $95.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.82. CRH has a twelve month low of $85.46 and a twelve month high of $131.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.19. CRH had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CRH will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of CRH

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in CRH during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of CRH by 51.2% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 304 shares of the construction company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CRH during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRH in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company that supplies products and solutions used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its offerings include aggregates, cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, architectural products, precast concrete and other construction-related materials and services.

The company serves customers across North America and Europe, with operations spanning construction materials, infrastructure products and building solutions. CRH supports projects such as roads, bridges, airports, utilities, commercial buildings and residential developments.

CRH was formed in 1970 through the merger of Cement Limited and Roadstone, two Irish building materials businesses.

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