CRH's Oldcastle Acquires Waupaca Northwoods' Nampa Facility
CRH plc’s CRH subsidiary, Oldcastle APG, Inc., has acquired the Waupaca Northwoods facility in Nampa, ID, which is a manufacturer of soil, barks, mulches and decorative stone products.
The newly-acquired Nampa facility is an addition to Oldcastle’s Lawn & Garden business, aligning its intention to provide end-to-end outdoor living solutions to customers across North America. The strategic transaction marked the debut of this subsidiary company’s Lawn & Garden business in the Western United States and increased its product portfolio of landscaping products.
Strategic Buyouts Bode Well
CRH intently focuses on expanding its geographical footprint and product portfolio through strategic acquisitions. The company primarily utilizes several opportunities to expand its product offerings in various fields comprising its solutions capabilities and road infrastructure, utility infrastructure and outdoor living.
During the third-quarter 2023 earnings call, CRH stated that year to date, it completed 16 strategic bolt-on acquisitions for an investment of approximately $700 million. On Nov 21, 2023, the company announced an agreement to acquire an appealing portfolio of cement and ready-mixed concrete assets in Texas, USA from Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. MLM, for a total consideration of $2.1 billion. This accretive buyout is expected to be complete by the first half of 2024.
CRH’s Outdoor Living Solutions business is immensely benefiting from the contribution from Barrette Outdoor Living, which the company acquired in July 2022 for an enterprise value of $1.9 billion. Also, resilient residential demand from both retail and professional customers accompanied by good pricing momentum is aiding the uptrend. For 2023, the company expects to invest $1.8 billion in capital expenditure to spark further growth of its existing businesses.
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Owing to the tailwinds, shares of CRH have surged 71.3% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks Building Products - Miscellaneous industry’s 56.5% growth.
Zacks Rank
CRH currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
About Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta is the producer and supplier of construction aggregates and other heavy building materials, mainly cement, in the United States. The company supplies aggregates through its network of approximately 350 quarries, mines and distribution yards in 28 states, Canada and the Bahamas. Currently, it is benefiting from increased investment in large infrastructure and manufacturing projects, the business-mix portfolio, its discreetly curated coast-to-coast footprint and its prime focus on value-over-volume commercial strategy.
Martin Marietta currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. MLM delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 37.3%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MLM’s 2023 sales and earnings per share indicates growth of 19% and 52.8%, respectively, from the previous year’s reported levels.
Other Key Picks
Here are some other top-ranked stocks from the Construction sector.
EMCOR Group, Inc. EME presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25%, on average. Shares of EME have gained 42.8% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EME’s 2023 sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates an improvement of 12% and 52.8%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.
M-tron Industries, Inc. MPTI currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. MPTI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 35.6%, on average. It has surged 282.3% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPTI’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates growth of 30.6% and 156.7%, respectively, from the previous year.
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