4 Building Product Stocks In Focus Post-Harvey Havoc

Hurricane Harvey continues to devastate the Gulf, with many lives lost and thousands rendered homeless. Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, is flooded receiving more than 50 inches of rain, as per National Weather Service. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) economists estimate $30 billion in property damages due to Harvey, while JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) ranks Harvey among the top ten costliest storms the country has faced.

Around 30,000-40,000 houses have been hit by the hurricane. Keeping the tragedy aside, such disasters might prove to be a boon for companies in the building materials/ products space, with homeowners trying to repair the damaged homes.

Historically, building product companies like Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) and Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) have been facing the brunt of abnormally wet weather conditions, jeopardizing shipments, production and profits. Also, Harvey will likely cause shipment delays in the short term. Nevertheless, demand for building materials for the repair of damaged properties will more likely offset the initial concerns regarding business delays, boosting the top line for these companies.

Keeping this in mind, stocks of a number of building product companies rallied after Harvey hit the Gulf. Shares of Vulcan surged 7.7%, Martin Marietta jumped 9.3%, while Summit Materials (NYSE:SUM) increased 9.2% since Harvey wreaked havoc on Aug 25. Therefore, adding building product stocks to your portfolios makes great sense at this point.

The Key Picks

With the help of the Zacks Stock Screener, we have zeroed-in on four stocks in the building products industry based on a good Zacks Rank and other relevant metrics.

Owens Corning Inc. (NYSE:OC) provides building materials ranging from insulation, roofing, siding and stone. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company saw its shares climb 2.4% since Aug 25. That said, we have noticed that the company has outperformed its industry in each of 4-week, 12-week and 52-week time frames.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 6.7% over the last 60 days. For 2018, earnings estimates increased 8.9%. This signifies bullish analyst sentiment and indicates robust fundamentals and expectations of outperformance in the near term.

U.S. Concrete Inc. (NASDAQ:USCR) , a provider of ready-mixed concrete and concrete-related products and services,has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A. The company saw its shares climb 14.3% since Aug 25. Also, the company has outperformed its industry so far this year, gaining 13.1%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 0.2% over the last 60 days, while next year’s earnings estimates rose 1.9%. Again, the company has a long term (3-5 years) expected EPS growth of 10%.

TopBuild Corp. (NYSE:BLD) is the installer and distributor of insulation products to the construction industry. The company has a Zacks Rank #1 and shares of the company rose 4.1% since Aug 25. TopBuild has outperformed its industry in each of 4-week, 12-week and 52-week time frames.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 3.4% over the last 60 days, while next year’s earnings estimates rose 5.1%.

Patrick Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:PATK) is a manufacturer and supplier of building products and materials. The company saw its shares rally 7.1% since Aug 25. The company has outperformed the industry in one year (+13.6% vs 4.3%).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 3.6% over the last 60 days, while next year’s earnings estimates climbed 2.1%.

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