Eagle Materials, Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

The company makes gypsum wallboard, cement, gypsum paperboard and concrete. The company price has dropped some 38% from its high on worries that the houseing market is weakening. This may not be as bad as people think. With the residentual market weakening (if in fact it weakens and remains so) the industrial market is open for sending surplus building material. This segment of their business should remain very robust and utilization should remain over 95% which will allow future rate hikes. When natural gas prices decline more money can drop to the bottom line something worthy to footnote. Their PE is near 10 in an industy where PE are generally low, but this is not a high valuation for their industry.. The company just raised guidance for the first quarter from $1.10 to $1.20 and full year guidance from $3.67 to $4.00 per diluted share to $4.40 to $4.70 per diluted share, up 20%. Lengthy permit process toward the building of large cement plants keeps supplies low. Demand is high.