Buildings materials giant CRH saw its shares rise over 7 per cent today following an upgrade by Lehman Brothers which described the stock as undervalued.
CRH shares were trading up 7.7 per cent at €17.20 by 2.04pm on the Dublin market. The Lehman report raised its recommendation on the stock from "equal weight" to "overweight".
CRH shares are down over 26 per cent so far this year and came under pressure following a statement in early May that dollar weakness and weaker trends in a number of markets "has made our goal of achieving another year of profit and earnings growth more challenging".
Lehman said the company had an outstanding record of 15 consecutive years of earnings growth and had been "beaten down significantly" since that statement.
"Even after we factor in a more dramatic decline than what is suggested, we still find the stock undervalued", the Lehman note suggested.
They suggested the stock may rise 49 per cent over the next 12 months.
Additional reporting Bloomberg
