CRH (NYSE:CRH) Research Coverage Started at Longbow Research

Longbow Research began coverage on shares of CRH (NYSE:CRH) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $160.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CRH. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of CRH from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on CRH from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on CRH in a report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.60.

CRH Stock Up 3.4%

NYSE:CRH opened at $127.25 on Tuesday. CRH has a 52 week low of $76.75 and a 52 week high of $128.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $118.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.39. The company has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.35.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The construction company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.27. CRH had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 9.30%.The firm had revenue of $11.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. CRH has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.490-5.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CRH will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,405,066 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,912,385,000 after acquiring an additional 649,598 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in CRH by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,728,016 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,645,995,000 after purchasing an additional 392,146 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in CRH by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,803,346 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,175,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,558 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CRH in the second quarter valued at $1,007,932,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of CRH by 1.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,816,938 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,176,530,000 after buying an additional 162,110 shares during the last quarter. 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.