Pitcairn Co. Makes New Investment in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Pitcairn Co. bought a new position in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,795 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRH. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRH during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CRH by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,822 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co acquired a new position in CRH during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

CRH Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CRH opened at $80.77 on Friday. CRH plc has a one year low of $51.59 and a one year high of $88.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.41.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 10th. The construction company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CRH plc will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRH Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This is an increase from CRH’s previous Variable dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of CRH in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CRH from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of CRH from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of CRH in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of CRH in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.90.

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.