Swedbank AB Reduces Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in CRH Plc by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, now holding 153,286 shares worth approximately $13.49 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently raised their price targets on CRH, with JPMorgan Chase setting a new target of $130.00 and Royal Bank of Canada updating theirs to $112.00.
• CRH has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37, yielding approximately 1.3%, scheduled for payment on September 24th.

Swedbank AB lowered its holdings in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,286 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 17,156 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in CRH were worth $13,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in CRH in the first quarter valued at $744,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in CRH by 100.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 452,776 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $39,318,000 after purchasing an additional 226,602 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in CRH by 43.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $906,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108,416 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in CRH by 27.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,154,053 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $189,492,000 after buying an additional 170,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on CRH from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Vertical Research upgraded CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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. 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRH has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.00.

CRH Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRH traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $113.05. 5,842,217 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,349,817. The company has a market capitalization of $76.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.31. Crh Plc has a 1-year low of $76.75 and a 1-year high of $114.83. The firm's 50-day moving average is $106.24 and its 200 day moving average is $97.10.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). CRH had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.09%.The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

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