Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 980,396 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 13,081 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of CRH worth $90,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,843,362 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,781,004,000 after purchasing an additional 4,687,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CRH by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,163,930 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,624,719,000 after acquiring an additional 145,101 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,437,868 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CRH during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,391,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $796,546,000 after buying an additional 826,758 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRH has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CRH in a report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 target price on shares of CRH in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital started coverage on CRH in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of CRH from $127.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.36.

CRH Price Performance

NYSE:CRH opened at $91.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.10. CRH plc has a fifty-two week low of $71.18 and a fifty-two week high of $110.97.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The construction company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.06). CRH had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The business had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. On average, research analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.66%.

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.