Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $138.77.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRH shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded CRH from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Stephens decreased their target price on CRH from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on CRH from $149.00 to $165.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price objective on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th.

CRH Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:CRH opened at $84.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.76 and a 200 day moving average of $103.31. The stock has a market cap of $55.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.33. CRH has a 12 month low of $83.48 and a 12 month high of $131.55.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 15.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CRH will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. CRH’s payout ratio is currently 27.51%.

Institutional Trading of CRH

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CRH by 7.7% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 196,860 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $21,064,000 after acquiring an additional 14,091 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in CRH by 6.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,712 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in CRH during the second quarter worth about $2,216,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRH in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CRH by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,044 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company that supplies products and solutions used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its offerings include aggregates, cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, architectural products, precast concrete and other construction-related materials and services.

The company serves customers across North America and Europe, with operations spanning construction materials, infrastructure products and building solutions. CRH supports projects such as roads, bridges, airports, utilities, commercial buildings and residential developments.

CRH was formed in 1970 through the merger of Cement Limited and Roadstone, two Irish building materials businesses.