Crh Plc $CRH Stock: Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Holdings

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its CRH stake by 91.4% in the third quarter, selling 1.45 million shares and retaining 137,015 shares valued at approximately $11.35 million.
• Despite Vontobel’s reduction, institutional investors own 62.5% of CRH, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $127.61.
• CRH shares opened at $83.52, near their 12-month low, while the company reported quarterly earnings and revenue above estimates and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.39, yielding about 1.9% annually.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,015 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,450,667 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in CRH were worth $11,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi grew its position in CRH by 74.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 5,965,814 shares of the construction company's stock worth $627,126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,550,178 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of CRH by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,928,489 shares of the construction company's stock worth $623,203,000 after purchasing an additional 216,822 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,831,618 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $507,784,000 after purchasing an additional 297,309 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,336,754 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $245,460,000 after purchasing an additional 93,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,186,541 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $228,994,000 after purchasing an additional 477,242 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRH. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of CRH from $130.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of CRH from $159.50 to $126.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on CRH from $165.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on CRH from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRH has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.61.

CRH Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of CRH stock opened at $83.52 on Friday. Crh Plc has a 12 month low of $78.62 and a 12 month high of $131.55. The business's 50 day moving average is $89.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.96. The company has a market cap of $55.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 15.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crh Plc will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.51%.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company that supplies products and solutions used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement and other construction materials, as well as value-added products such as precast concrete, architectural products and site-development solutions.

The company serves customers across North America and Europe, including contractors, construction companies, infrastructure developers, distributors and public-sector organizations.

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