Crh Plc $CRH Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has decreased its holdings in CRH Plc by 6.8%, now owning 175,273 shares worth approximately $15.4 million after selling 12,787 shares in the latest quarter.
• In contrast, Vanguard Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in CRH by 62.8%, bringing its total to nearly 63.8 million shares valued at over $5.6 billion.
• CRH recently reported earnings of $1.94 per share, falling short of analyst expectations while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, yielding 1.3% annually.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,273 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 12,787 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in CRH were worth $15,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,608,567,000 after acquiring an additional 24,591,538 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $906,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,830,489 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $776,818,000 after acquiring an additional 221,038 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in CRH in the 1st quarter worth $597,888,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in CRH by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,222,060 shares of the construction company's stock worth $459,385,000 after buying an additional 504,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CRH. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $112.00 price objective (up previously from $108.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.18.

CRH Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of CRH traded up $3.1370 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.4870. The company had a trading volume of 891,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,549,094. The company's 50 day moving average price is $97.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.72. The stock has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Crh Plc has a 52 week low of $76.75 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.09%.CRH's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. CRH's dividend 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.