Atlas Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Atlas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 3.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,685 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CRH were worth $576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CRH during the fourth quarter worth $1,014,454,000. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of CRH by 3,384.4% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 6,781,697 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $469,022,000 after acquiring an additional 6,587,066 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of CRH by 35,497.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,082,961 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $438,455,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,682 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of CRH by 2,199.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,342,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $288,383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,197,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CRH by 1,095.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,275,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $282,512,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001,488 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CRH from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of CRH from $109.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CRH has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.70.

CRH Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE CRH opened at $90.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. CRH plc has a 52-week low of $51.59 and a 52-week high of $91.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.72.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85. The company had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.16 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.97%.

About CRH

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.