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CRH (CRH) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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CRH (CRH - Free Report) closed at $117.54 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.3% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.56%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.29%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 2.21%.

The stock of building material company has risen by 2.33% in the past month, leading the Construction sector's loss of 4.65% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.41%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of CRH in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.13, up 13.3% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $11.24 billion, reflecting a 6.9% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $5.56 per share and revenue of $37.74 billion, indicating changes of +3.15% and +6.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CRH should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 1.09% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. CRH is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

From a valuation perspective, CRH is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.87. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 19.72.

Investors should also note that CRH has a PEG ratio of 1.64 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry stood at 1.8 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Building Products - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Construction sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 166, this industry ranks in the bottom 33% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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