6 Cement Stocks Worth Buying: Analysts

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Findings of a latest report entitled "U.S. Cement Industry Analysis" from Reportlinker.com, evaluate that apparent cement consumption is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% during the period 2011 to 2015. The report adds that new housing starts and acceleration in commercial construction activities have revived cement demand.

A recuperating economy along with balancing cement prices will likely trigger a recovery in the cement market in the near future and accelerate it in the coming years. Also, factors like improving infrastructure spending coupled with strong demand from prominent industry verticals will expand cement consumption in the country.

These six stocks from the building products industry, specifically cement and aggregates, reported strong quarterly results and are seen generating attractive returns. Analysts polled by Bloomberg project potential upside of 1% to 251% for these stocks with 32% buy and 58% hold ratings.

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6. Texas Industries (TXI), a supplier of heavy construction materials in the U.S., operates in three segments: cement, aggregates and consumer products. Within the cement segment, the company produces gray, Portland and specialty cement. Its production and distribution facilities are located in Texas and California.

Of the 10 analysts covering the stock, 8% recommend a hold. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expect the stock to gain an average 1% to $41.67 in the upcoming 12 months.

For third quarter 2011, the company recorded net loss of $20.9 million or 75 cents per share, which compares to $27.1 million or 98 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Total sales increased 6.8% to $125.8 million from $117.8 million in the comparable quarter prior year. Shipments in the cement segment were up 10.2% to 704,000 tons, while the same for aggregate operations expanded 26.9% to 2.5 million tons. On May 31, 2011, the company paid a cash dividend of $0.075 per common share.

Recently, it was known that Longleaf Partners Funds Trust raised its stake in Texas to 19.6% through a share purchase program valued $18.24 million, taking total owned shares to 5.47 million worth $221.55 million. Longleaf is now the largest direct owner of TXI, matching the stake of NNS Holding.

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