Northern Trust Corp Acquires 714,623 Shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,145,116 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 714,623 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.61% of CRH worth $383,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in CRH by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,781,004,000 after buying an additional 4,687,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRH by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,624,719,000 after buying an additional 145,101 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in CRH by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,788,918 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 2,437,868 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CRH in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in CRH by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $796,546,000 after buying an additional 826,758 shares in the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRH. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 target price on CRH in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CRH from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on CRH in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on CRH from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CRH presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.36.

CRH Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CRH opened at $93.44 on Wednesday. CRH plc has a twelve month low of $71.18 and a twelve month high of $110.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.01. The company has a market capitalization of $63.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.30.

CRH Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is 22.66%.

CRH 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.