Crh Plc $CRH Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its CRH stake by 18.4% in Q1, selling 740,440 shares and leaving it with 3.28 million shares worth about $344.5 million.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on CRH, with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of $141.19; Jefferies was the most bullish, raising its target to $165.60.
• CRH reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting revenue of $7.37 billion and EPS of -$0.20, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share for a 1.5% annualized yield.

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,277,118 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 740,440 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.49% of CRH worth $344,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CRH by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,117,664 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,873,884,000 after acquiring an additional 14,623,673 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in CRH by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,895,205 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,106,927,000 after purchasing an additional 11,167,189 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CRH by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,709,575 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,827,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916,930 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in CRH by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,439,954 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,552,506,000 after purchasing an additional 78,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CRH in the fourth quarter valued at $1,476,939,000. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on CRH from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $139.00 target price on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered CRH from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on CRH from $149.00 to $165.60 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $141.19.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH opened at $105.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Crh Plc has a fifty-two week low of $91.26 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.02. CRH had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. CRH has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.600-6.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. CRH's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.89%.

CRH Profile

CRH plc, originally formed as Cement Roadstone Holdings in 1970 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global building materials group. The company has grown from its Irish roots into one of the largest international suppliers of construction materials, expanding primarily through acquisitions and regional business development. CRH operates an integrated network of manufacturing and distribution businesses that serve both public and private construction markets.

CRH's core activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, cement, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and other bulk materials, together with a broad range of value-added building products such as precast concrete, masonry, bricks, roofing products, pipe and drainage systems, and construction accessories.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.