Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Reduces Position in Crh Plc $CRH

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its stake in shares of Crh Plc (NYSE:CRH) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,793,888 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 673,151 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in CRH were worth $223,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in CRH by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 2.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

CRH Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of CRH stock opened at $112.85 on Wednesday. Crh Plc has a twelve month low of $86.82 and a twelve month high of $131.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.91.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.02. CRH had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.65%.The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. CRH has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.600-6.050 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crh Plc will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

CRH Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.89%.

About CRH

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.