Construction Materials

Below are the top general building materials stocks on the NYSE in terms of operating margin. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at LSB Industries Inc (NYSE: LXU) is 13.04%. LXU's PEG ratio is 1.27. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Valspar Corporation (The) (NYSE: VAL) is 11....

The S&P 500 lost 9.4 points, or 0.7%, in Friday's trading session, as a weaker-than-expected jobs report put an end to the recent market rally. The SPX is now 26.78 points lower than its 52-week high of 1370.58, which was set on May 2nd. The Sector breakdown for Friday's session is as follows...

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) are higher on the session by 1.14%, trading at $39.78. Overall put volume is now running at 14.55x the daily average, with 56% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. 11,842 contracts have traded on the session so far. Vulcan Materials...

Jefferies is out with its report today on Cemex (NYSE: CX), lowering its PT from $12 to $11. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "We are reducing our EBITDA estimates by 3% for this year and by 6% for 2012 and lowering our price target from $12 to $11. As the latter is 27% above the current...

Morgan Stanley has downgraded Cemex (NYSE: CX) from Equal-weight to Underweight.

Scotia Capital initiated coverage of Harry Winston Diamond (NYSE: HW) with an Outperform rating and a price target of $22.50. On Friday, Harry Winston lost 1.28% of its value to finish the week at $3.09.

At 12:02 pm, the Dow rose 1.17% to 12,405.29, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index moved up 1.00% to 1,320.52 and the NASDAQ composite index gained 1.23% to 1,320.52. The industries that are driving the market today are: Semiconductor - Specialized: This industry jumped 3.26% by 12:02 pm....

By 10:35 am, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 28.04 points, or 0.23%, to 12,216.73, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index had surged 5.77 points, or 0.44%. The NASDAQ composite index rose 3.75 points, or 0.14%. Some of the narrow based indexes that are supporting the markets...

Here are today's Put/Call Ratio leaders… 1. Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR) 2,790 puts, 126 calls 2. Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) 3,183 puts, 252 calls 3. Cemex (NYSE: CX) 3,156 puts, 279 calls 4. PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) 16,575 puts, 1,555 calls 5. Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION...

Jefferies is maintaining its Buy rating and its $51 price target on Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) as estimates are lowered on the stock. Says Jefferies, in the report, “Following Vulcan's updated estimates (16 June) of the impact of its $1.1bn bond issue and $275m tender offer, we are reducing...

Below are the top cement stocks on the NYSE in terms of cash. CRH Plc (NYSE: CRH) had $2.59 billion in total cash and $7.81 billion in total debt for the latest quarter. Cemex SAB de CV (NYSE: CX) had $664.47 million in total cash and $17.28 billion in total debt for the latest quarter. Texas...

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) are lower on the session by 0.81%, currently trading at $37.47. The stock has been moving largely lower over the past four months and is currently trading below the 200-day moving average. Options traders are buying calls on the name today. A short...

Jefferies, citing an announcement made by the company last Friday has lowered its price target on Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) from $52 to $51 but maintains its Buy rating on the stock. Says Jefferies, in its report, “Vulcan's announcement on Friday (3 June) on the pricing of its $1.1bn...

Jefferies & Company has lowered the price target on Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) from $52 to $51 and maintains its Buy rating.

The U.S. stock market posted large declines on Wednesday amid widespread bearish sentiment on the heels of weak economic data. A few stocks are attempting to make back a portion of the day's losses in the after hours trading session. Among the late gainers are Orbitz (NYSE: OWW), CRH PlC (NYSE: CRH...