CRH (NYSE:CRH) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $147.00 to $135.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRH traded as low as $85.12 and last traded at $85.3340, with a volume of 610020 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.04.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CRH. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of CRH from $149.00 to $165.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of CRH from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of CRH from $132.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price target on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRH currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRH

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CRH during the 4th quarter worth about $1,476,939,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,709,575 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,827,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916,930 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in CRH by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,965,814 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $627,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,178 shares during the period. National Pension Service purchased a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,172,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in CRH by 441.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,468,493 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,255 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRH Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.65. The company has a market capitalization of $56.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $10.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.51%.

About CRH

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.