CRH Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CRH)

Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 8,104 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 60% compared to the typical volume of 5,055 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRH

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRH by 158.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,670 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,316 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of CRH by 5.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,178 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in CRH by 111.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,125 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 27.7% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CRH by 20.3% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on CRH from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on CRH from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of CRH from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CRH in a report on Monday, December 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.20.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH stock traded down $4.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $126.46. The company had a trading volume of 2,807,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,998,491. The firm has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.99. CRH has a 1 year low of $76.75 and a 1 year high of $131.55.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.27. CRH had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 9.30%.The business had revenue of $11.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. CRH’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. CRH has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.490-5.720 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CRH will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

About CRH

CRH plc, originally formed as Cement Roadstone Holdings in 1970 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global building materials group. The company has grown from its Irish roots into one of the largest international suppliers of construction materials, expanding primarily through acquisitions and regional business development. CRH operates an integrated network of manufacturing and distribution businesses that serve both public and private construction markets.

CRH’s core activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, cement, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and other bulk materials, together with a broad range of value-added building products such as precast concrete, masonry, bricks, roofing products, pipe and drainage systems, and construction accessories.