Ritholtz Wealth Management Decreases Holdings in Crh Plc $CRH

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,789 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,975 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in CRH were worth $3,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRH by 62.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,755,468 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,608,567,000 after buying an additional 24,591,538 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CRH in the 1st quarter worth about $597,888,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,108,416 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in CRH by 58,695.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,830,994 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $249,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in CRH by 195.0% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,052,011 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $268,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017,484 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

CRH Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRH opened at $118.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.72 and a 200 day moving average of $99.66. The stock has a market cap of $79.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 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 released 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 firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crh Plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. CRH’s payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $134.00 price objective on shares of CRH in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of CRH from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of CRH in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded CRH to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CRH has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $126.21.

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.