Crh Plc $CRH Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd. reduced its CRH stake by 3.7% in the third quarter, selling 64,853 shares and retaining 1.67 million shares valued at approximately $138.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 62.5% of CRH.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $128.92, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.
• CRH shares opened at $81.03, near their 52-week low, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $2.21, above estimates, and revenue growth of 5.6% year over year. CRH also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share.

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,668,694 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 64,853 shares during the period. CRH accounts for approximately 2.2% of Perpetual Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Perpetual Ltd owned approximately 0.25% of CRH worth $138,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in CRH by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 196,860 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $21,064,000 after acquiring an additional 14,091 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of CRH by 13.0% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 332,198 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,545,000 after acquiring an additional 38,141 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 4.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,336,754 shares of the construction company's stock worth $245,460,000 after acquiring an additional 93,106 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in shares of CRH in the second quarter worth $2,229,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 16.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 223,644 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,507,000 after acquiring an additional 31,603 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRH shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on CRH from $147.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stephens dropped their price objective on CRH from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $118.00 price objective on CRH in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their target price on CRH from $122.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on CRH from $165.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRH currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.92.

CRH Stock Down 0.6%

CRH stock opened at $81.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.57. Crh Plc has a 52 week low of $80.13 and a 52 week high of $131.55.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.68 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 9.93%. The company's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crh Plc will post 5.90 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. CRH's dividend payout ratio is 27.51%.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company headquartered in Ireland. Formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holdings, the company was formed in 1970 through the merger of Cement Limited and Roadstone Limited. CRH provides materials, products and services used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction.

Its portfolio includes aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement, architectural products, precast concrete, paving and construction accessories. The company serves customers across the construction value chain, including contractors, distributors, homebuilders and infrastructure developers.

CRH operates primarily in North America and Europe, with businesses spanning the United States, Canada and multiple European markets.

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