Chart of the Day: Eagle Materials - Solid Infrastructure Play

The Chart of the Day belongs to the cement company Eagle Materials (EXP) .  I found the stock by using Barchart's powerful screening functions to find stocks with the highest technical buy signals, highest Weighted Alpha, superior current momentum and having a Trend Seeker buy signal then used the Flipchart  feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation.  Since the Trend Seeker signaled a buy on 4/19 the stock gained  10.45%.

Eagle Materials Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces and supplies heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates through Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard segments. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures. It also manufactures and sells recycled paperboard to gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters, as well as containerboard and lightweight packaging grades. In addition, the company engages in the sale of ready-mix concrete; and mining, extracting, production, and sale of aggregates, including crushed stones, sand, and gravel. Its products are used in commercial and residential construction; public construction projects; and projects to build, expand, and repair roads and highways. The company was formerly known as Centex Construction Products, Inc. and changed its name to Eagle Materials, Inc. in January 2004. Eagle Materials Inc. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Barchart's Opinion Trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report.

Barchart Technical Indicators:

• 100% technical buy signals
• 36.80+Weighted Alpha
• 24.80% gain in the last year
• Trend Seeker buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 12 new highs and up 17.05% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 74.31%
• Recently traded at $160.08 with 50 day moving average of $143.01

Fundamental Factors:

• Market Cap $5.64 billion
• P/E 12.95
• Dividend yield .66%
• Revenue expected to grow 14.70% next year
• Earnings estimated to increase 28.10% this year, an additional 1.20% next year and continue to compound at an annual rate of 8.00% for the next 5 years

Analysts and Investor Sentiment -- I don't buy stocks because everyone else is buying but I do realize that if major firms and investors are dumping a stock it's hard to make money swimming against the tide:

• Wall Street analysts issued  5 strong buy, 2 buy and 5 hold opinions on this stock
• Analysts have price targets from $140 to $189
• Value Line gave the stock its above average rating of 2 and an 18 month mid-point price target of $173 for a 10% gain
• CFRAs MarketScope has a 5 star strong buy rating
• CEO's comments: Michael Haack, President and CEO, said, “Our Nevada Cement operations have long-standing customer relationships in Northern California and this acquisition will uniquely position us to better serve these and new customers with complementary imported product. Our entire cement system is currently ‘sold out’ and this acquisition will enable us to more actively participate in the strong US demand environment. Our experience as a cement importer elsewhere in the US is a transferrable expertise at Eagle and we expect a smooth ownership transition.”
• 5,090 investors monitor the stock on Seeking Alpha

Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in  the next 72 hours.

Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance and reevaluate your stop losses at least on a weekly basis.