CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) Holdings Boosted by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 455,560 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in CRH were worth $42,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in CRH by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,156,017 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,341,258,000 after purchasing an additional 9,055,354 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,351,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,329,796,000 after buying an additional 1,148,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,218,532,000 after buying an additional 618,786 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 10.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CRH by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,985,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $738,113,000 after buying an additional 165,825 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRH. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 target price on shares of CRH in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of CRH from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of CRH from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CRH from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.25.

CRH Price Performance

Shares of CRH opened at $97.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.30. CRH plc has a one year low of $71.18 and a one year high of $110.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.27.

CRH Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. CRH’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.51%.

CRH Company 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.