Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Grows Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Crh Plc by 6.9%, now owning $4.53 million worth of the stock with 51,544 shares after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares.
• CRH's recent quarterly earnings report showed $1.94 earnings per share, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06, while revenue was approximately $10.21 billion, slightly under the expected $10.27 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, with a payout ratio of 23.22%, and intends to pay it to shareholders on September 24th.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,544 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in CRH were worth $4,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CRH by 62.8% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in CRH by 2.6% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in CRH by 5.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,822,801 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $775,349,000 after acquiring an additional 493,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in CRH in the first quarter valued at approximately $597,888,000. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $112.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $113.18.

CRH Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRH traded down $0.1110 during trading on Thursday, reaching $110.6590. 1,895,009 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,580,412. Crh Plc has a 1-year low of $76.75 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $97.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.63. The firm has a market cap of $74.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.26.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm 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 company earned $1.88 earnings per share. CRH's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. CRH's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

About CRH

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.