Traders Purchase High Volume of CRH Call Options (NYSE:CRH)

CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 22,193 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 539% compared to the average daily volume of 3,474 call options.

Institutional Trading of CRH

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CRH in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,358,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in CRH by 2,426.7% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,826,501 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $195,481,000 after buying an additional 2,714,634 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in CRH during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,484,901,000. Asio Capital LLC increased its position in CRH by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 54,015 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,736,000 after acquiring an additional 23,205 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter valued at $63,614,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

CRH Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of CRH stock opened at $72.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.90 and a 200-day moving average of $77.28. The company has a market cap of $49.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.30. CRH has a 1-year low of $51.59 and a 1-year high of $88.00.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. Research analysts forecast that CRH will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a yield of 1.7%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Vertical Research began coverage on CRH in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CRH has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.11.

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.