Boston Partners Purchases 937,804 Shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Boston Partners lifted its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,106,296 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 937,804 shares during the period. CRH accounts for about 0.7% of Boston Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.13% of CRH worth $560,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CRH by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co acquired a new stake in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in CRH in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of CRH from $89.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Friday, January 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRH from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "hold" rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.31.

CRH Stock Performance

NYSE CRH traded up $3.45 on Friday, reaching $83.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,060,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,900,997. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.51. CRH plc has a 52 week low of $47.14 and a 52 week high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that CRH plc will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from CRH's previous Variable dividend of $0.23.

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.