Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) Receives $114.18 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.18.

Several research analysts recently commented on CRH shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on CRH in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CRH from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRH

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in CRH by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,608,567,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591,538 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,391,245,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CRH in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $597,888,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in CRH by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,781,004,000 after acquiring an additional 4,687,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in CRH by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company's stock worth $906,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company's stock.

CRH Price Performance

NYSE CRH traded up $2.45 on Friday, reaching $91.52. The company had a trading volume of 6,725,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,095,172. CRH has a 1 year low of $71.18 and a 1 year high of $110.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.67 and a 200-day moving average of $94.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). CRH had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CRH will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. CRH's payout ratio is currently 23.52%.

About CRH

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.