CRH (NYSE:CRH) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $114.22 and last traded at $114.01, with a volume of 1690132 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $112.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRH. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Vertical Research raised shares of CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $114.64.

CRH Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $76.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.55 and a 200 day moving average of $95.79.

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

CRH Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRH. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in CRH by 349.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,354 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CRH by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 45,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,244,000 after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CRH by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. III Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of CRH by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. III Capital Management now owns 56,534 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,231,000 after purchasing an additional 4,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of CRH by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,145,116 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $383,506,000 after purchasing an additional 714,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.