Alpine Global Management LLC Acquires New Shares in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,500 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of CRH by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,335 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of CRH by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,102,000 after buying an additional 17,731 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 53,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,937,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Finally, Manitou Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CRH by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,203 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRH. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 price objective on CRH in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRH has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.58.

CRH Price Performance

CRH stock opened at $94.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.43 and its 200 day moving average is $96.33. The firm has a market cap of $63.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. CRH plc has a one year low of $71.18 and a one year high of $110.97.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. CRH had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 9.86%. Equities analysts anticipate that CRH plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. CRH’s payout ratio is currently 23.52%.

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.