Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 4,749 Shares of Crh Plc $CRH

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service Inc. has reduced its stake in CRH Plc by 43.6%, selling 4,749 shares, and now owns 6,151 shares valued at $565,000.
• Analysts have given CRH an average rating of "Buy" with a consensus price target of $116.00, with some ratings as high as $130.00.
• CRH recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, translating into an annualized dividend of $1.48 and a yield of 1.3%.

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its position in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,151 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,749 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in CRH were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $5,608,567,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591,538 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,108,416 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in CRH by 2.6% in the 1st 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 increased its holdings in shares of CRH by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,822,801 shares of the construction company's stock worth $775,349,000 after buying an additional 493,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,979,264 shares of the construction company's stock worth $689,009,000 after purchasing an additional 843,806 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $113.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,842,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,493,631. Crh Plc has a twelve month low of $76.75 and a twelve month high of $114.83. The company has a market cap of $76.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.31. The business's fifty day moving average price is $106.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.05.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.09%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid 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 is Friday, August 22nd. CRH's payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of CRH to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $112.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CRH has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.00.

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.