Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Purchases Shares of 2,681 Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired 2,681 shares of Crh Plc, valued at approximately $246,000, during the second quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have positive outlooks for CRH, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price averaging $116.00.
• CRH recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, representing a yield of 1.3% with an upcoming payment date of September 24th.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,681 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CRH by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,608,567,000 after buying an additional 24,591,538 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 221,038 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of CRH by 5.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,822,801 shares of the construction company's stock worth $775,349,000 after acquiring an additional 493,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in CRH by 11.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,979,264 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $689,009,000 after purchasing an additional 843,806 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CRH. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $112.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $116.00.

CRH Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE CRH traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $114.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,590,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,493,631. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.17. Crh Plc has a 52 week low of $76.75 and a 52 week high of $115.09. The stock has a market cap of $77.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.09%.The firm'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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CRH's payout ratio is 23.22%.

CRH 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.