Appleton Partners Inc. MA Acquires New Shares in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA purchased a new position in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 23,005 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,984,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in CRH during the third quarter worth $1,484,901,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter worth $1,014,454,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in CRH by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 11,141,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $770,576,000 after buying an additional 103,510 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CRH by 1,136.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,587,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $469,982,000 after buying an additional 7,892,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in CRH by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,106,296 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $560,933,000 after buying an additional 937,804 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRH shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on CRH from $89.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on CRH in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.11.

CRH Stock Performance

Shares of CRH opened at $77.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.65. CRH plc has a 12 month low of $51.59 and a 12 month high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CRH plc will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This is a boost from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23.

CRH Profile

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.