Analysts Set CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) Price Target at $83.28

CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.28.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRH shares. Vertical Research began coverage on CRH in a report on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on CRH from $89.70 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRH

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CRH in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,484,901,000. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in shares of CRH in the third quarter worth about $941,562,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter worth about $1,014,454,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CRH by 1,136.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,587,277 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $469,982,000 after purchasing an additional 7,892,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of CRH in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $418,653,000. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

CRH Trading Up 1.9 %

CRH opened at $81.94 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.39. CRH has a fifty-two week low of $47.14 and a fifty-two week high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CRH will post 5.36 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd.

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.