CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) Shares Purchased by LMR Partners LLP

LMR Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,780 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,327 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP's holdings in CRH were worth $21,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in CRH by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,781,004,000 after acquiring an additional 4,687,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRH by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,624,719,000 after acquiring an additional 145,101 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in CRH by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,788,918 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437,868 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in CRH by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company's stock worth $796,546,000 after purchasing an additional 826,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CRH shares. Loop Capital started coverage on CRH in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on CRH in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $112.58.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH stock traded up $1.15 on Friday, reaching $98.98. The company had a trading volume of 3,180,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,795,153. CRH plc has a 1 year low of $71.18 and a 1 year high of $110.97. The company's fifty day moving average is $91.51 and its 200 day moving average is $96.32. The company has a market cap of $66.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). CRH had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CRH plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. CRH's payout ratio is 23.52%.

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.