VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys New Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems has acquired a new stake in CRH Plc, purchasing 48,300 shares valued at approximately $4.43 million during the 2nd quarter.
• Noteworthy hedge fund activity includes Vanguard Group increasing its stake in CRH by 62.8%, while other firms like Nuveen LLC and AGF Management also significantly boosted their holdings.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded CRH's stock rating, with Wells Fargo & Company labeling it a strong-buy and Royal Bank of Canada raising its price target from $112 to $152.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 48,300 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $4,434,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CRH by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,608,567,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591,538 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CRH during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $597,888,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in CRH by 43.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in CRH by 58,695.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,830,994 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $249,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in CRH by 195.0% during the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,052,011 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $268,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017,484 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on CRH from $112.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CRH from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on CRH from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $127.71.

CRH Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CRH opened at $117.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.28 and a 200-day moving average of $100.48. Crh Plc has a 52 week low of $76.75 and a 52 week high of $121.88.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. CRH's payout ratio is currently 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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