In the latest close session, CRH (CRH) was down 1.03% at $122.41. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.43% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.37%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.94%.
The stock of building material company has fallen by 0.9% in the past month, lagging the Construction sector's gain of 5.6% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.89%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of CRH in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.52, showcasing a 6.29% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $9.54 billion, showing a 7.6% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.56 per share and revenue of $37.57 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.15% and 0%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for CRH. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. CRH is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
In the context of valuation, CRH is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 20.1. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 19.29 of its industry.
It's also important to note that CRH currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.81. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.73.
The Building Products - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Construction sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 153, finds itself in the bottom 38% echelons of all 250+ industries.
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.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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CRH PLC (CRH): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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