Banque Transatlantique SA Buys New Position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 373,185 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $35,037,000. Banque Transatlantique SA owned 0.05% of CRH at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,781,004,000 after buying an additional 4,687,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CRH by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,624,719,000 after acquiring an additional 145,101 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CRH by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,788,918 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,553,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437,868 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CRH during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of CRH by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $796,546,000 after purchasing an additional 826,758 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 target price on CRH in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised CRH from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRH currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $112.36.

CRH Stock Performance

NYSE CRH traded down $2.20 on Wednesday, reaching $91.75. 8,987,156 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,805,895. CRH plc has a 12 month low of $71.18 and a 12 month high of $110.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.13. The company has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 16.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CRH plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.66%.

CRH Company 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.