Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 61,974 CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 61,974 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,617,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $3,781,004,000 after purchasing an additional 4,687,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CRH by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,624,719,000 after buying an additional 145,101 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of CRH by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,788,918 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 2,437,868 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CRH in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CRH by 10.6% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on CRH in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CRH from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of CRH from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CRH has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $112.58.

CRH Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRH traded down $1.79 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.11. 3,900,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,415,550. CRH plc has a 1 year low of $71.18 and a 1 year high of $110.97. The company has a market cap of $61.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $91.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.64.

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

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.52%.

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.