CRH (NYSE:CRH) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $86.32 and last traded at $86.2710, with a volume of 2814905 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CRH. Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price objective on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on CRH from $132.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Citigroup cut CRH from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised CRH from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.57.

CRH Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $57.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.71.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of CRH by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 332,198 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,545,000 after buying an additional 38,141 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in CRH by 4.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,336,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $245,460,000 after acquiring an additional 93,106 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in CRH in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,229,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in CRH by 16.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 223,644 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,507,000 after acquiring an additional 31,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its position in CRH by 13.6% in the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 118,777 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,486,000 after acquiring an additional 14,191 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CRH Company Profile

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.