Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 320,783 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 5,481 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in CRH were worth $29,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRH in the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CRH by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 15,191 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,405,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRH in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in CRH by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 130,743 shares of the construction company's stock worth $12,096,000 after purchasing an additional 16,106 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter worth about $432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company's stock.

CRH Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRH traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $91.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,515,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,789,678. The firm's 50 day moving average is $91.23 and its 200-day moving average is $96.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. CRH plc has a 1 year low of $71.18 and a 1 year high of $110.97.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 16.35%. Analysts forecast that CRH plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CRH shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 price target on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CRH from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.58.

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.