CRH vs LIN Stock Comparison

Crh Public and Linde Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CRH Crh Public Ltd Co
$85.43 +0.5% 1M -28.9% 1Y
Market cap
$57.12B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.63B
Div. yield
–
Cement Basic Materials
3 wins
LIN Linde Plc
$507.56 +8.0% 1M +13.8% 1Y
Market cap
$234.75B
P/E
32.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Gases Basic Materials
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Linde leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Linde 8, Crh Public 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRHLINLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $57.12B $234.75B LIN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.9x 32.4x CRH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.9x 30.3x CRH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.3% +6.6% LIN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.9% 20.4% LIN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.7% 10.8% LIN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.8x LIN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -28.9% +13.8% LIN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.2%/yr +9.7%/yr CRH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.5% 19.2% LIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 59/100 LIN

Percentile Scorecard

CRHLIN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCRHLIN
Valuation 67 #4 of 10 20 #75 of 94
Growth – 66 #32 of 92
Profitability 29 #6 of 8 94 #6 of 89
Financial Health 50 #5 of 9 52 #47 of 97
Shareholder Returns 86 #2 of 8 64 #26 of 70
Overall 58 59
  • CRH ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • LIN ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCRHLINSPY
1 month +0.5%+8.0% -0.8%
3 months -16.9%+0.1% +3.5%
6 months -26.8%-0.6% +7.0%
Year to date -31.5%+19.0% +12.2%
1 year -28.9%+13.8% +13.0%
3 years +63.2%+37.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +17.7%+11.1% +23.1%
5 years +77.9%+59.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +12.2%+9.7% +11.0%
10 years +158.1%+328.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.9%+15.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCRHLINSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.5%19.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.8%19.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.05 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.890.72 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.1%-23.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.0%-7.1% -1.8%
52-week high $131.38$546.64 $779.14
52-week low $79.20$389.38 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCRHLIN
P/E now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 19.6x 32.4xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.8x 6.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 9.3x 19.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 31.4x 47.0xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 2.3x 5.8xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.78 3.06median 1.66

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCRHLIN
Revenue $38.63B $35.45B
Gross profit $14.00B $17.14B
Operating income $5.53B $9.38B
Net income $3.89B $7.26B
Free cash flow $2.77B $4.98B
R&D – $146.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.74 $15.59
Cash & equivalents $3.03B $4.90B
Total debt $17.93B $28.01B
Shares (diluted) 668.80M 464.52M
Enterprise value $42.56B $216.33B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCRHLIN
P/E 14.9x 32.4x
P/FCF 20.6x 47.0x
P/Operating cash flow 10.5x 22.3x
P/S 1.5x 6.6x
P/B 2.3x 5.8x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 8.1x
EV/EBITDA 9.2x 19.5x
EV/EBIT 13.0x 27.4x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 7.3x
EV/FCF 26.0x 51.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.2x 24.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 3.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRHLIN
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.3% 6.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 2.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.0% 6.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.1% 5.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 9.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 16.7% 8.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 8.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.7% 10.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 10.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% 5.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 6.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 26.5% -1.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -2.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRHLIN
Gross margin 36.2% 48.3%
EBITDA margin 20.2% 37.2%
Operating margin 14.3% 26.5%
Pretax margin 13.3% 26.4%
Net margin 9.9% 20.4%
FCF margin 7.2% 14.0%
Operating cash flow margin 14.0% 29.6%
Return on equity 15.8% 18.3%
Return on assets 6.7% 8.4%
Return on invested capital 9.7% 10.8%
Return on capital employed 11.4% 13.2%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRHLIN
Debt / assets 30.6% 31.7%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 6.5x 5.6x
Liabilities / assets 57.1% 54.0%
Equity / assets 42.9% 46.0%
Interest coverage 6.5x 37.4x
Current ratio 1.6x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 2.73 3.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRHLIN
Dividend yield 1.8% 1.2%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 3.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 39.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 57.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 5.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.1%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCRHLIN
Forward P/E 14.9xFY2026 30.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.74FY2026 $16.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.1%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.9% +14.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $41.93BFY2026 $38.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.0%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRHLIN
Held by institutions 84.4% 85.2%
Institutions holding 1,029 2,321
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +4.2%
Institutions buying 554 1,213
Institutions selling 355 764
Buyers to sellers 1.56 1.59

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CRHLIN
CRH 1.00 0.15
LIN 0.15 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRH and LIN?

Linde (LIN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Crh Public (CRH) $57.12B, Linde (LIN) $234.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, CRH and LIN?

Crh Public (CRH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Crh Public (CRH) 14.9x, Linde (LIN) 32.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Crh Public (CRH) is cheapest (Crh Public (CRH) 14.9x, Linde (LIN) 30.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Linde (LIN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Crh Public (CRH) +6.3%, Linde (LIN) +6.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Linde (LIN) has the highest net margin (Crh Public (CRH) 9.9%, Linde (LIN) 20.4%). On return on invested capital, Linde (LIN) leads (Crh Public (CRH) 9.7%, Linde (LIN) 10.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Linde (LIN) returned the most: Crh Public (CRH) -28.9%, Linde (LIN) +13.8%. Over five years, Crh Public (CRH) compounded fastest (Crh Public (CRH) +12.2%/yr, Linde (LIN) +9.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Crh Public (CRH) 0.00%, Linde (LIN) 0.01%. Crh Public (CRH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Linde (LIN) has been the steadiest (Crh Public (CRH) 32.5%, Linde (LIN) 19.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CRH and LIN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.15, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CRH and LIN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Linde (LIN) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.