Gene J. Puskar/AP Average fixed rates on U.S. long-term mortgages neared their highs for the year this week amid signs of further strength in the economy. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan was 4.57 percent this week. That's up from 4.51 percent last week and close to the high this year of 4.58 percent reached Aug. 22. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose from 3.54 percent to 3.59 percent. That's near the year's high of 3.6 percent. Long-term mortgage rates have risen more than a full percentage point since May, when Chairman Ben Bernanke first signaled that the Federal Reserve could reduce its bond purchases later this year if the economy continued to strengthen. The bond purchases have been intended to keep long-term loan rates ultra-low. Among the indicators the Fed will weigh in deciding whether to slow its bond buying is the government's estimate that the economy grew at a 2.5 percent annualized rate from April through June - much faster than previously estimated. Economists expect growth to stay at an annual rate of around 2.5 percent in the second half of the year. The Fed will meet Sept. 17-18, after which most analysts expect it to announce that it will scale back its bond purchases. Mortgage rates remain low by historical standards. But the recent increases in rates could slow the housing recovery's momentum. The increases have spurred some homebuyers to close deals quickly. U.S. sales of newly built homes dropped 13.4 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 394,000, the lowest level in nine months. But spending on construction projects rose in July to its highest level since June 2009, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Mortgage rates have been rising because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The yield has climbed 1.3 percentage points in the past four months as bond traders have anticipated that the Fed will slow its bond-buying stimulus to the economy. The 10-year note's rate rose to 2.89 percent Wednesday from 2.86 percent Tuesday. It jumped to 2.96 percent Thursday morning.
Best Freight Companies To Buy Right Now: KBR Inc. (KBR)
KBR, Inc. operates as an engineering, construction, and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power, and industrial sectors worldwide. Its Downstream business unit provides front end engineering design; detailed engineering; engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC); EPC management; and program management services to petrochemical, refining, coal gasification, and syngas markets. The company?s Government and Infrastructure business unit provides program and project management, contingency logistics, operations and maintenance, construction management, engineering, and other services to military and civilian branches of governments and private clients. Its Services business unit delivers engineering, construction, construction management, fabrication, maintenance, and turnaround services. It also offers maintenance, construction, and drilling support services for offshore oil and gas producing facili ties using semisubmersible vessels. This segment serves oil, gas, petrochemicals, and hydrocarbon processing industries, as well as power, alternate energy, pulp and paper, industrial and manufacturing, and pharmaceutical industries. The company?s Technology business unit offers various process technologies, including value-added technologies in the coal monetization, petrochemical, refining, and syngas markets. Its Upstream business unit constructs liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, onshore oil and gas production facilities, offshore oil and gas production facilities, and onshore and offshore pipelines. The company?s Ventures business unit invests in and manages projects, where the company provides engineering, construction, construction management or operations, and maintenance services. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Raytheon's rockets will be deployed to defend the base, while Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) is managing the overall project. And last week, we found out who will build it, when government contractor KBR (NYSE: KBR ) was awarded $134 million to turn the 430-acre site into a missile base.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Harsco have gained 4.7% to $26.43 today at 1:16 p.m., outpacing other construction & engineering companies. Dycom (DY) has advanced 0.5% to $30, KBR Inc. (KBR) has ticked up 0.1% to $33.03, Worthington Industries�(WOR) has risen 2.8% to $38.85�and Tutor Perini (TPC) has rallied 3.6% to $22.46.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
Those hefty contract wins, plus the forward P/E of just 14 — make CBI one of the best stocks to buy.
KBR (KBR)Spun-off from oil service stock Halliburton (HAL), KBR (KBR) could an interesting ��alue��pick for building outAmerica�� energy boom.
- [By Lisa Levin]
KBR (NYSE: KBR) shares fell 1.16% to touch a new 52-week low of $23.95 after UBS downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.
AEP Industries (NASDAQ: AEPI) shares touched a new 52-week low of $34.20. AEP shares have dropped 56.11% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 15.91% in the same period.
Hot Construction Companies To Invest In Right Now: Eagle Materials Inc (EXP)
Eagle Materials Inc., incorporated on January 27, 1994, manufactures and distributes gypsum wallboard and also manufactures and sells cement. Gypsum wallboard is distributed throughout the United States with particular emphasis in the geographic markets nearest to its production facilities. The Company sells cement in six regional markets, including northern Nevada and California, the greater Chicago area, the Rocky Mountain region, the Central Plains region and Texas. Its gypsum wallboard business is supported by its recycled paperboard business, while its cement business is supported by its concrete and aggregates business. The Company operates in Cement and Concrete and Aggregates, and Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments. As of March 31, 2013, the Company operated six cement plants (one of which belongs to its joint venture company), five gypsum wallboard plants, one recycled paperboard plant, seventeen concrete batching plants and four aggregates facilities. The Company�� products are used in the construction and renovation of houses, roads, bridges, commercial and industrial buildings and other, newer generation structures like wind farms.
Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Operations
The Company�� cement production facilities are located in or near Buda, Texas; LaSalle, Illinois; Laramie, Wyoming; Sugar Creek, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fernley, Nevada. The Company�� cement subsidiaries are wholly-owned except the Buda, Texas plant, which is owned by Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP, a limited partnership joint venture owned 50% by the Company and 50% by Lehigh Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG. Its LaSalle, Illinois plant operates under the name of Illinois Cement Company; the Laramie, Wyoming plant operates under the name of Mountain Cement Company; the Fernley, Nevada plant operates under the name of Nevada Cement Company and its Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants operate under the name Central Plains Cement Com! pany. The Company produces and distributes ready-mix concrete from Company-owned sites north of Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas and the greater Kansas City area. The Company�� activities in its frac sand business are in the Utica, Illinois area and in south Texas. The Company sells aggregates to building contractors and other customers engaged in a variety of construction activities.
Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard Operations
The Company owns five gypsum wallboard manufacturing facilities. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� gypsum wallboard production totaled 1,950 million square feet. Total gypsum wallboard sales were 1,909 million square feet during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013). The Company also manufactures alternative products, including containerboard grades (such as linerboard and medium) and lightweight packaging grades (such as bag liner). In addition, recycled industrial paperboard grades (tube/core stock and protective angle board stock) are produced to maximize manufacturing efficiencies. The Company�� manufactured recycled paperboard products are sold to gypsum wallboard manufacturers and other industrial users.
The Company competes with USG Corporation, National Gypsum Company and Koch Industries.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top decliners in the sector included Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), off 6.3 percent, and Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), down 4.3 percent.
Top Headline
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced its plans to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX) for up to $1.46 billion. Forest will pay around $95 per share, or around $1.1 billion in cash. Forest Labs will also pay up to $30 per share, or around $360 million in a contingent value right. The deal is projected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014. - [By Rich Duprey]
Cement and building materials maker�Eagle Materials� (NYSE: EXP ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2008.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Tomorrow, Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top decliners in the sector included Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), off 6.3 percent, and Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), down 4.3 percent.
Top Headline
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced its plans to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX) for up to $1.46 billion. Forest will pay around $95 per share, or around $1.1 billion in cash. Forest Labs will also pay up to $30 per share, or around $360 million in a contingent value right. The deal is projected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014.
Hot Construction Companies To Invest In Right Now: Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI)
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CB&I) is one of the integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services providers and process technology licensors, delivering solutions to customers primarily in the energy, petrochemical and natural resource industries. CB&I consist of three business sectors: Steel Plate Structures, Project Engineering and Construction, and Lummus Technology. Through these business sectors, the Company offers services both independently and on an integrated basis.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had more than 900 projects in process in more than 70 countries. On February 13, 2013, it acquired The Shaw Group Inc. (Shaw).
Steel Plate Structures
Steel Plate Structures provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services, including mechanical erection services, for the hydrocarbon, water and nuclear industries. Projects include above ground storage tanks, elevated storage tanks, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanks, pressure vessels, and other specialty structures, such as nuclear containment vessels. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as ADNOC (Abu Dhabi), CNOOC (China) and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia); and regional energy companies, such as Kinder Morgan (United States) and Suncor (Canada).
Project Engineering and Construction
Project Engineering and Construction provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services for upstream and downstream energy infrastructure facilities. Projects include LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals, gas processing plants, refinery units, petrochemical complexes and a wide range of other energy-related projects. Customers include international energy companies, such as British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as Ecopetrol (Colombia) and ORPIC (Oman); and regio! nal energy companies, such as Dominion (United States), Gazprom (Russia), Nexen (United Kingdom), and Woodside (Australia).
Lummus Technology
Lummus Technology provides licenses, services, catalysts and equipment for the hydrocarbon refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron and Shell; national energy companies, such as Pemex (Mexico), Petrochina (China), Rosneft (Russia) and Sabic (Saudi Arabia); and regional refiners and chemical and gas processing companies, such as China Coal (China), IRPC (Thailand), Kazakhstan Petrochemical (Kazakhstan), and Williams Energy Services (United States).
Power provides a range of services, including design, EPC, technology and consulting services, primarily to the fossil and nuclear power generation industries. Plant Services provides electric power refueling outage maintenance, turnaround maintenance, routine maintenance, offshore maintenance, modifications, capital construction, off-site modularization, fabrication, reliability engineering, plant engineering, plant support and specialty services. Additionally, it provides services to restore, rebuild, repair, renovate and modify industrial and electric power generation facilities, and offers predictive and preventive maintenance services. Environmental & Infrastructure (E&I) provides full-scale environmental and infrastructure services for government and private-sector clients. These services include program and project management, design-build, engineering and construction, sustainability and energy efficiency, remediation and restoration, science and technology, facilities management and emergency response and disaster recovery. Fabrication and Manufacturing is a worldwide supplier of fabricated piping systems primarily to the electric power, petrochemical and refinery industries, supporting both external clients and other Shaw business sectors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Last quarter, Buffett sold his stakes in�Archer Daniels Midland�(ADM) and�General Dynamics�(GD), and added to a position�in�International Business Machines�(IBM). He also bought shares of�Chicago Bridge & Iron�(CBI), an old favorite of mine from my trading days.�
- [By Rich Duprey]
Engineering and design firm�CB&I (NYSE: CBI ) has been awarded an Environmental Protection Agency contract worth $160 million for remediation services in a region that includes Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii, tribal nations, and U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean, the company announced today.
Hot Construction Companies To Invest In Right Now: American Woodmark Corp (AMWD)
American Woodmark Corporation, incorporated on April 21, 1980, manufactures and distributes kitchen cabinets and vanities for the remodeling and new home construction markets. The Company offers framed stock cabinets in approximately 550 different cabinet lines, ranging in price from relatively inexpensive to medium-priced styles. Styles vary by design and color from natural wood finishes to low-pressure laminate surfaces. The product offering of stock cabinets includes 86 door designs in 18 colors. Stock cabinets consist of a common box with standard interior components and a maple, oak, cherry, or hickory front frame, door and/or drawer front. The Company�� product is primarily sold under the brand names of American Woodmark, Timberlake, Shenandoah Cabinetry, Potomac, and Waypoint Living Spaces.
The Company�� product is sold on a national basis across the United States to the remodeling and new home construction markets. The Company services these markets through three primary channels, which include home centers, builders, and independent dealers and distributors. The Company provides complete installation services to its direct builder customers through its network of nine service centers that are strategically located throughout the United States. The Company distributes its products to each market channel directly from four assembly plants through a third party logistics network. The primary raw materials used include hard maple, oak, cherry, soft maple, and hickory lumber and plywood.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
After the bedroom, the kitchen is probably the place where we spend the most time awake in our homes with small cap kitchen stocks Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd (NASDAQ: CSTE) and American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ: AMWD) along with diversified midcap Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (NYSE: FBHS) all putting in a good performance. After all, any sort of housing recovery with more new homes being sold will�help kitchen stocks and so will increased sales of older or foreclosed homes that need to have their kitchens remodeled. But which is the better kitchen stock for investors? Here is�closer look at all three:
Hot Construction Companies To Invest In Right Now: AECOM Technology Corp (ACM)
AECOM Technology Corporation (AECOM) is a provider of professional technical and management support services for commercial and government clients around the world. The Company provides planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, and program and construction management services for a range of projects, including highways, airports, bridges, mass transit systems, government and commercial buildings, water and wastewater facilities, and power transmission and distribution. It also provides program and facilities management and maintenance, training, logistics and other support services, for agencies of the United States government. It offers services in two segments: Professional Technical Services and Management Support Services. In June 2011, the Company acquired Spectral Services Consultants Pte. Ltd.
Professional Technical Services (PTS)
The PTS segment delivers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, and program and construction management services to commercial and government clients worldwide in end markets, such as transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, water and government markets. It provides program management services through a joint venture for the Second Avenue subway line in New York City, design and contract administration services for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge's Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and engineering and environmental management services to support global energy infrastructure development for a number of petroleum and mining companies.
PTS segment contributed 86% of the Company�� revenue during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011).
Transit and rail projects include light rail, heavy rail (including high speed, commuter and freight) and multimodal transit projects. The Company provided engineering design services for the new World Trade Center Terminal for PATH and the Second Avenue Subway (8.5-mile rail route and 16 stations) in New York City, the Ma O! n Shan Rail (seven-mile elevated railway) in Hong Kong, and Crossrail (74-mile railway) in the United Kingdom. Marine, Ports and Harbors Projects include wharf facilities and container port facilities for private and public port operators. The Company provided marine design and engineering services for container facilities in Hong Kong, the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York and New Jersey. Highways, Bridges and Tunnels Projects include interstate, primary and secondary urban and rural highway systems and bridge projects. Aviation Projects include landside terminal and airside facilities and runways as well as taxiways.
Government Projects include the Company�� emergency response services for the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and engineering and program management services for agencies of the Department of Defense. It also provides architectural and engineering services for national laboratories, including the laboratories at Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Industrial Projects include industrial facilities for a variety of end markets, including manufacturing, distribution, aviation, aerospace, communications, media, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, chemical, and food and beverage facilities. Urban Master Planning/Design Projects include design services, landscape architecture, general policy consulting and environmental planning projects for a variety of government, institutional and private sector clients. It provides strategic planning and master planning services for new cities and mixed use developments in the People�� republic of China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Commercial and Leisure Facilities Projects include corporate headquarters, high-rise office towers, historic buildings, hotels, leisure, sports and entertainment facilities, hospitals and healthcare facilities and corporate campuses. Institutional Projects include engin! eering se! rvices for college and university campuses, including the new Kennedy-King College in Chicago, Illinois. It has also undertaken assignments for Oxford University in the United Kingdom, Pomona College and Loyola Marymount University in California. Healthcare Projects include design services for the Mayo Clinic Gonda Building in Rochester, Minnesota, University Hospital in Dubai Healthcare City and the Samsung Cancer Center in Seoul, Korea. It has also undertaken assignments for the new Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Orlando, Florida, and the Minneapolis campus of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Correctional Projects include the planning, design, and construction of detention and correction facilities throughout the world.
Water and Wastewater Projects include treatment facilities as well as supply, distribution and collection systems, stormwater management, desalinization, and other water re-use technologies for metropolitan governments. Environmental Management Projects include remediation, waste handling, testing and monitoring of environmental conditions and environmental construction management for private sector clients. Water Resources Projects include regional-scale floodplain mapping and analysis for public agencies, along with the analysis and development of protected groundwater resources for companies in the bottled water industry.
Demand Side Management Projects include energy efficient systems for public K-12 schools and universities, health care facilities, and courthouses and other public buildings, as well as energy conservation systems for utilities. Transmission and Distribution Projects include power stations and electric transmissions and distribution and co-generation systems, including enhanced electrical power generation in Stung Treng, Cambodia. These projects utilize a range of services that include consulting, forecasting and surveying to detailed engineering design and construction management. Alternative/Renewable Energy Projects ! include p! roduction facilities, such as ethanol plants, wind farms and micro hydropower and geothermal subsections of regional power grids. It provides site selection and permitting, engineering, procurement and construction management and related services. Hydropower/Dams Projects include hydroelectric power stations, dams, spillways, and flood control systems including the Song Ba Ha Hydropower Project in Vietnam, the Pine Brook Dam in Boulder County, Colorado and the Peribonka Hydroelectric Power Plant in Quebec, Canada. Solar Projects include performing environmental work for the solar photovoltaic Brockton Brightfield project in New England, and environmental permitting services for the California Energy Commission to permit the development of a 250 mega watts (MW) solar thermal power plant in the Mojave Desert of California.
Management Support Services (MSS).
The MSS segment provides program and facilities management and maintenance, training, logistics, consulting, technical assistance and systems integration services, for agencies of the United States government. It also provides organizational and limited direct support services for equipment sent to the United States Army's Corpus Christi Depot in Texas. The MSS segment contributed 14% of the Company�� fiscal 2011 revenue.
Installation, Operations and Maintenance Projects include Department of Defense and Department of Energy installations where the Company provides services for the operation and maintenance of complex government installations, including military bases, test ranges and equipment. It also provides services for the operations and maintenance of the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site. Logistics and Field Services Projects include logistics support services for a number of Department of Defense agencies and defense contractors focused on developing and managing integrated supply and distribution networks. Training Projects include training applications in live, virtual and simulation training! environm! ents. Systems Support Projects cover a set of operational and support systems for the maintenance, operation and modernization of Department of Defense and Department of Energy installations. Its services in this area range from information technology and communications to life cycle optimization and engineering, including environmental management services.
Technical Personnel Placement Projects include the placement of personnel in functional areas of military and other government agencies, as these entities continue to outsource critical services to commercial entities. It provides systems, processes and personnel in support of the Department of Justice's management of forfeited assets recovered by law enforcement agencies. It also supports the Department of State in its enforcement programs by recruiting, training and supporting police officers for international and homeland security missions. Field Services Projects include maintaining, modifying and overhauling ground vehicles, armored carriers and associated support equipment both within and outside of the United States under contracts with the Department of Defense. It also maintains and repairs telecommunications systems for military and civilian entities.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
The U.S. Department of Defense announced the award of 10 separate contracts Thursday, worth a bit over $340 million in aggregate value. Boeing and Raytheon claimed about one third of the money on offer, apiece. As for other companies participating in Pentagon funding, these included the following:
- [By Garrett Cook]
URS (NYSE: URS) shares were also up, gaining 9.60 percent to $57.01 after Aecom Technology (NYSE: ACM) announced its plans to buy URS for $4 billion in cash and stock.
- [By Eddie Staley]
URS (NYSE: URS) shares were also up, gaining 11.76 percent to $58.14 after Aecom Technology (NYSE: ACM) announced its plans to buy URS for $4 billion in cash and stock.
Hot Construction Companies To Invest In Right Now: Texas Industries Inc (TXI)
Texas Industries, Inc., incorporated on April 19, 1951, is a supplier of construction materials in the southwestern United States. The Company operates in three segments: cement, aggregates and consumer products. Its cement segment produces gray portland cement and specialty cements. The Company�� cement production and distribution facilities are concentrated primarily in Texas and California. Its aggregates segment produces natural aggregates, including sand, gravel and crushed limestone. The Company�� consumer products segment produces ready-mix concrete. It is also a supplier of natural aggregates and ready-mix concrete in Texas and northern Louisiana and in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As of May 31, 2013, the Company had 123 manufacturing facilities in five states.
Cement Segment
The Company produces specialty cements, such as masonry and oil well cements. Its cement production facilities are located at Midlothian, Texas, south of Dallas/Fort Worth, Hunter, Texas, between Austin and San Antonio, and Oro Grande, California, near Los Angeles. It also operates a cement terminal and packaging facility at its Crestmore plant near Riverside, California, and the Company operates its gray portland cement grinding facility on an as needed basis. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), it produced approximately 4.3 million tons of finished cement. The Company shipped approximately 4.4 million tons during fiscal 2013, of which 3.8 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers.
Aggregates Segment
The Company�� operations are conducted from facilities primarily serving the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin areas in Texas; the southern Oklahoma area, and the Alexandria and Monroe areas in Louisiana. The Company produced approximately 14.2 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013. It shipped approximately 14.8 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which 11.3 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers! . The Company shipped approximately 1.0 million cubic yards of lightweight aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which approximately 0.9 million cubic yards were shipped to outside trade customers.
Consumer Products Segment
The Company�� ready-mix concrete operations are situated in three areas in Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area of north Texas, the Austin area of central Texas and from Beaumont to Texarkana in east Texas), in north and central Louisiana, and in southwestern Arkansas. It is also a 40% partner in a joint venture that has ready mix concrete operations in the northern part of central Texas area centered around Waco, Texas. It shipped approximately 2.8 million cubic yards of ready-mix concrete during fiscal 2013. The Company manufacture and supply a substantial amount of the cement and aggregates raw materials used by our ready-mix plants. The Company also marketed its Maximizer packaged concrete mixes in southern California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI )
In spite of the steady rebound in the construction industry, certain companies look predisposed to underperform. Take Texas Industries as a perfect example. It provides heavy construction aggregates to the commercial construction industry while also acting a cement supplier to the consumer segment. Although its orders, and even to some remote extent its pricing power for cement, has improved modestly as the housing sector has rebounded, Texas Industries is still turning only marginal profits. In fact, looking toward next year you'd see a forward P/E approaching 500! - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) was down, falling 4.36 percent to $65.78 after Longbow Research downgraded the stock from buy to neutral.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.37 percent to $97.07, while gold traded up 1.73 percent to $1,223.10. Silver traded up 3.69 percent Thursday to $20.09, while copper fell 0.34 percent to $3.39. - [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Vulcan have gained 7.6%, and given a lift to other cement makers today, including Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), which has risen 4.9% and reports earnings on Thursday, Cemex (CX), which has advanced 1.5%, and Texas Industries (TXI), which is up 4.9%.
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