Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 67.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,366,439 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,871,734 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.20% of CRH worth $126,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in CRH by 9.5% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,419 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in CRH by 72.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 297 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in CRH by 2.1% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 6,116 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CRH by 3.2% during the second quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CRH by 2.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRH. Citigroup lowered their target price on CRH from $109.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CRH from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised CRH from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRH presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.70.

CRH Price Performance

Shares of CRH stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.36. The company had a trading volume of 790,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,919,319. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.85. The company has a market cap of $62.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.30. CRH plc has a twelve month low of $51.59 and a twelve month high of $94.14.

CRH (NYSE:CRH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85. The firm had revenue of $9.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.16 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

CRH Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. CRH’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

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.