5 Stocks Pushing The Materials & Construction Industry Higher

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model

Two out of the three major indices are trading lower today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) trading up 15 points (0.1%) at 12,980 as of Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, 11:49 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,319 issues advancing vs. 1,553 declining with 162 unchanged.

The Materials & Construction industry currently is unchanged today versus the S&P 500, which is down 0.1%. A company within the industry that increased today was Foster Wheeler (FWLT), up 2.3%.

TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 5 stocks pushing the industry higher today:

5. Vulcan Materials Company (VMC) is one of the companies pushing the Materials & Construction industry higher today. As of noon trading, Vulcan Materials Company is up $0.40 (0.8%) to $52.71 on light volume Thus far, 203,420 shares of Vulcan Materials Company exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 699,800 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $52.12-$53.10 after having opened the day at $52.38 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $52.31.

Vulcan Materials Company engages in the production and sale of construction aggregates, as well as asphalt mix, ready-mixed concrete, and cement primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Aggregates, Concrete, Asphalt Mix, and Cement. Vulcan Materials Company has a market cap of $6.8 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector. Shares are up 34.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday. Currently there are 4 analysts that rate Vulcan Materials Company a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 8 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Vulcan Materials Company as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, weak operating cash flow and poor profit margins. Get the full Vulcan Materials Company Ratings Report now.

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