Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Trims Stake in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lowered its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,701 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in CRH were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRH. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CRH by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,562,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $144,605,000 after buying an additional 114,072 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of CRH by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 32,557 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 5,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CRH by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,450,632 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $226,732,000 after buying an additional 232,977 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CRH by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 23,253 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after buying an additional 5,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of CRH by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 72,778 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,733,000 after buying an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

CRH Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRH opened at $94.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.97. CRH plc has a 1 year low of $71.18 and a 1 year high of $110.97.

CRH Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. CRH’s payout ratio is 20.87%.

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.