BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Position in Crh Plc $CRH

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,366,647 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 359,605 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in CRH were worth $170,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CRH by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,117,664 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,873,884,000 after purchasing an additional 14,623,673 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,476,939,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CRH by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,709,575 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,827,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916,930 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of CRH in the 3rd quarter valued at about $295,798,000. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,172,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRH shares. Weiss Ratings lowered CRH from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CRH from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. DA Davidson set a $120.00 price target on CRH in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $139.00 price target on shares of CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CRH from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CRH currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.54.

CRH Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:CRH opened at $108.91 on Friday. Crh Plc has a 12 month low of $86.82 and a 12 month high of $131.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.40. The firm has a market cap of $72.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.36.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.02. CRH had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.65%.The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. CRH’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. CRH has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.600-6.050 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. CRH’s payout ratio is currently 28.89%.

CRH Profile

CRH plc, originally formed as Cement Roadstone Holdings in 1970 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global building materials group. The company has grown from its Irish roots into one of the largest international suppliers of construction materials, expanding primarily through acquisitions and regional business development. CRH operates an integrated network of manufacturing and distribution businesses that serve both public and private construction markets.

CRH’s core activities include the production and distribution of aggregates, cement, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and other bulk materials, together with a broad range of value-added building products such as precast concrete, masonry, bricks, roofing products, pipe and drainage systems, and construction accessories.