14,548 Shares in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) Acquired by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 14,548 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRH. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in CRH by 0.3% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 11,155,273 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,034,540,000 after purchasing an additional 35,209 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its holdings in CRH by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 38,072 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 13,435 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in CRH during the second quarter valued at $20,642,000. KP Management LLC increased its holdings in CRH by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 40,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,999,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CRH during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CRH from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $87.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered CRH from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stephens began coverage on CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on CRH from $109.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRH presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.70.

CRH Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CRH traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.11. 3,419,265 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,055,631. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.75 and its 200-day moving average is $82.33. CRH plc has a 12-month low of $51.59 and a 12-month high of $94.14.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.85. The firm had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.16 billion. On average, research analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is 29.77%.

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.