Sources: CP staff; Fidelity Investments
In what was hailed as the best year for the U.S. stock market since in the mid-1990s—the Dow up 26.5 percent, the S&P 500 up 29.6 percent over 2012—shares of the seven major concrete, cement and aggregate companies climbed an average of 19.20 percent in 2013.
Accepting portfolio differences—i.e., domestic versus international market presence and construction materials versus overall product/service offerings—Concrete Products examines New York Stock Exchange-traded companies’ January–December 2013 share price percentage increases; quotes at start of 2014; and, 52-week range:
- CRH Plc, 25.23 percent, $25.51; $19.46–$26.75
- Cemex SAB de C.V., 16 percent; $11.50; $9.13–$12.57
- Eagle Materials Inc., 21.26 percent; $75.51; $59.08–$79.91
- MDU Resources/Knife River Corp., 38.46 percent; $29.99; $21.50–$30.97
- Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., 2.67 percent, $99.54; $93.03–$113.65
- Texas Industries Inc., 21.08 percent; $66.16; $51.28–$75.30
- Vulcan Materials Co., 9.68 percent; $58.68; $45.42–$60.14
With shares climbing 127 percent, and quoting in the $9.15–$23.60 range during 2013, Nasdaq-traded U.S. Concrete Inc. finished the year with the greatest gain among public concrete, cement and aggregates operators. Contributing to the stock performance were the company’s successful streamlining efforts following the prior year’s financial reorganization, and stakes in the strong or stable Texas, northern California and metro New York/New Jersey construction markets.