Swedbank AB Trims Stock Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Swedbank AB trimmed its position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,682 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 30,604 shares during the period. Swedbank AB's holdings in CRH were worth $11,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 24,591,538 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRH during the first quarter worth $597,888,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,108,416 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of CRH by 58,695.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,830,994 shares of the construction company's stock worth $249,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,017,484 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CRH shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of CRH from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $116.00.

CRH Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CRH opened at $113.05 on Monday. Crh Plc has a fifty-two week low of $76.75 and a fifty-two week high of $114.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.05. The company has a market cap of $76.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 EPS 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 business had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. CRH's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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