CRH (NYSE:CRH) Shares Gap Down to $72.96

Shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $72.96, but opened at $71.41. CRH shares last traded at $71.89, with a volume of 485,305 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRH shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.11.

CRH Stock Up 1.8 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Equities research analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

CRH Company 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.