Exane Asset Management Buys 289,700 Shares of Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Exane Asset Management increased its stake in CRH by 43.6%, purchasing 289,700 shares to hold 953,474 shares, making CRH about 27.1% of Exane's portfolio (≈$117.9 million) and its largest holding.
• CRH missed Q4 estimates, reporting $1.52 EPS versus $2.20 expected and $9.42 billion in revenue versus $11.15 billion expected, though revenue was up 6.2% year-over-year.
• Analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $139.54, and several firms (including UBS and JPMorgan) have recently raised price targets or issued Buy/Overweight ratings.

Exane Asset Management increased its stake in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 953,474 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 289,700 shares during the period. CRH makes up about 27.1% of Exane Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Exane Asset Management owned about 0.14% of CRH worth $117,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRH. State Street Corp grew its holdings in CRH by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,728,016 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,645,995,000 after acquiring an additional 392,146 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in CRH by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,439,954 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,552,506,000 after acquiring an additional 78,769 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in CRH by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,816,938 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,176,530,000 after acquiring an additional 162,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in CRH by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,788,282 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,173,615,000 after acquiring an additional 603,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in CRH by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,449,387 shares of the construction company's stock worth $893,181,000 after acquiring an additional 45,543 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CRH from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. DA Davidson set a $120.00 price target on CRH in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on CRH from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CRH from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $139.00 price target on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.54.

CRH Price Performance

CRH stock opened at $117.17 on Monday. Crh Plc has a 1-year low of $81.60 and a 1-year high of $131.55. The stock has a market cap of $78.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $112.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.96.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The construction company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.15 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.02%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from CRH's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CRH's dividend payout ratio is 28.26%.

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.

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