CRH’s (CRH) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their overweight rating on shares of CRH (NYSE:CRH) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a $115.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $140.00.

CRH has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of CRH from $165.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of CRH from $157.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of CRH from $159.50 to $126.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of CRH from $147.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of CRH from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $127.61.

CRH Price Performance

NYSE CRH opened at $82.12 on Tuesday. CRH has a fifty-two week low of $78.62 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.09. The firm has a market cap of $54.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.19. CRH had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that CRH will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. 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 presently 27.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRH

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi boosted its stake in CRH by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,965,814 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $627,126,000 after buying an additional 2,550,178 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in CRH by 441.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,468,493 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,255 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of CRH during the first quarter valued at $79,124,000. Interval Partners LP bought a new position in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter valued at $68,127,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 27.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,186,541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $228,994,000 after acquiring an additional 477,242 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company headquartered in Ireland. Formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holdings, the company was formed in 1970 through the merger of Cement Limited and Roadstone Limited. CRH provides materials, products and services used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction.

Its portfolio includes aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement, architectural products, precast concrete, paving and construction accessories. The company serves customers across the construction value chain, including contractors, distributors, homebuilders and infrastructure developers.

CRH operates primarily in North America and Europe, with businesses spanning the United States, Canada and multiple European markets.