Independence Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH)

Independence Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,307 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in CRH by 13.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in CRH by 43.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $906,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in CRH by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,717,597 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $436,472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,978,225 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in CRH by 931.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,977,992 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $183,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in CRH by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,813,580 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $445,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.82.

CRH Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CRH opened at $97.33 on Wednesday. Crh Plc has a 12 month low of $74.03 and a 12 month high of $110.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $93.17 and its 200-day moving average is $94.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.26.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.06). CRH had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.52%.

CRH Profile

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.