Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH - Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 818,986 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 31,251 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of CRH worth $61,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CRH in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,014,454,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRH by 3,384.4% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 6,781,697 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $469,022,000 after buying an additional 6,587,066 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CRH by 35,497.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,082,961 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $438,455,000 after buying an additional 5,068,682 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in CRH by 2,199.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,342,432 shares of the construction company's stock worth $288,383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,197,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in CRH by 1,095.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,275,591 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $282,512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001,488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRH. Truist Financial lifted their target price on CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley raised CRH from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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 cut shares of CRH from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of CRH from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.70.

CRH Stock Performance

CRH traded up $2.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.73. The stock had a trading volume of 6,967,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,215,731. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. CRH plc has a twelve month low of $51.59 and a twelve month high of $91.02. The company's 50-day moving average price is $80.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.72.

CRH (NYSE:CRH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $1.85 earnings per share (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. As a group, equities analysts expect that CRH plc will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRH Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. CRH's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.97%.

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.

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