Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Stake in Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in CRH Plc by 7.5%, owning 502,733 shares worth approximately $44.2 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Vanguard Group Inc. significantly boosted its position in CRH by 62.8%, holding nearly 63.8 million shares valued at around $5.6 billion.
• CRH announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, which will be paid out on September 24th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 502,733 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,160 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.07% of CRH worth $44,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRH by 62.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in CRH during the first quarter worth $597,888,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in 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 buying an additional 3,108,416 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in CRH by 195.0% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,052,011 shares of the construction company's stock worth $268,485,000 after buying an additional 2,017,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in CRH by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,717,597 shares of the construction company's stock worth $436,472,000 after buying an additional 1,978,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CRH. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on CRH in a report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRH currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $114.64.

CRH Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CRH opened at $113.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.04. Crh Plc has a twelve month low of $76.75 and a twelve month high of $114.40.

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

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.22%.

CRH Company 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.

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