Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Stake in Crh Plc $CRH

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,910,844 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 100,662 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.28% of CRH worth $175,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in CRH by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,143,490 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $288,572,000 after purchasing an additional 364,319 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of CRH in the 1st quarter worth approximately $744,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of CRH by 100.2% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 452,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,318,000 after buying an additional 226,602 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of CRH by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,303,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $906,424,000 after buying an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of CRH by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRH shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on CRH from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $152.00 price objective on CRH in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $125.07.

CRH Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CRH opened at $117.86 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.32. Crh Plc has a 12-month low of $76.75 and a 12-month high of $121.88.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. CRH had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. CRH’s payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

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.