CRH (NYSE:CRH) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $105.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRH traded as low as $80.29 and last traded at $80.2140, with a volume of 350412 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.94.

CRH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CRH from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of CRH from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price target on CRH in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on CRH from $149.00 to $165.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.19.

Institutional Trading of CRH

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in CRH by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,808,439 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,348,894,000 after purchasing an additional 262,175 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in CRH by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,155,899 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $768,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,352 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,965,814 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $627,126,000 after buying an additional 2,550,178 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,928,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $623,203,000 after buying an additional 216,822 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CRH by 6.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,831,618 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $507,784,000 after buying an additional 297,309 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CRH Stock Up 0.9%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.31.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.19. CRH had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 15.76%. The firm had revenue of $10.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.51%.

About CRH

CRH plc is a global building materials company headquartered in Ireland. Formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holdings, the company was formed in 1970 through the merger of Cement Limited and Roadstone Limited. CRH provides materials, products and services used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction.

Its portfolio includes aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement, architectural products, precast concrete, paving and construction accessories. The company serves customers across the construction value chain, including contractors, distributors, homebuilders and infrastructure developers.

CRH operates primarily in North America and Europe, with businesses spanning the United States, Canada and multiple European markets.