Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in CRH Plc by 27.6%, owning over 2.3 million shares valued at approximately $205.4 million after acquiring additional shares during the first quarter.
• CRH recently reported a net margin of 9.09% and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.94, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $2.06.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.3%, and has a current dividend payout ratio of 23.22%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 27.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,335,043 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 504,788 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.35% of CRH worth $205,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CRH by 62.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,608,567,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591,538 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in CRH by 43.2% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company's stock worth $906,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108,416 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in CRH by 2.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,830,489 shares of the construction company's stock worth $776,818,000 after purchasing an additional 221,038 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in CRH by 5.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,822,801 shares of the construction company's stock worth $775,349,000 after purchasing an additional 493,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CRH during the first quarter worth $597,888,000. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CRH. Vertical Research upgraded CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $112.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.18.

CRH Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE CRH traded up $2.5360 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.2560. The company had a trading volume of 2,965,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,818,760. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.82. Crh Plc has a twelve month low of $76.75 and a twelve month high of $113.95.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. CRH's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

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.