CRH (NYSE:CRH) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of CRH (NYSE:CRH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CRH. Stifel Nicolaus restated a hold rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CRH from $89.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CRH presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $83.28.

CRH Stock Up 0.7 %

CRH stock traded up $0.60 on Monday, reaching $82.72. 3,039,207 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,518,048. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.64. CRH has a one year low of $47.14 and a one year high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that CRH will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This is a boost from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRH

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRH. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in CRH by 4,232.2% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 203,049 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,515,000 after acquiring an additional 198,362 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in CRH by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 19,300 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new stake in CRH during the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,160,000. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in shares of CRH in the first quarter worth $139,367,000. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CRH by 53.9% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 108,630 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,370,000 after acquiring an additional 38,059 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.