Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 626 Shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,321 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in CRH were worth $2,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in CRH during the third quarter worth $1,484,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter worth $1,014,454,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 103,510 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in CRH by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,106,296 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $560,933,000 after acquiring an additional 937,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in CRH in the third quarter valued at $416,982,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CRH. StockNews.com cut shares of CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of CRH from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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 research note on Monday, May 13th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.11.

CRH Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRH traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $75.01. 539,568 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,144,416. CRH plc has a twelve month low of $51.59 and a twelve month high of $88.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.94.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CRH plc will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

CRH Increases Dividend

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

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.