Company Overview
United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. operates as a manufacturer and supplier of essential lime and limestone products throughout the United States, extracting raw material from both open-pit quarries and an underground mine before processing it into pulverized limestone, quicklime, hydrated lime, and lime slurry. The company functions within the Basic Materials sector and specifically serves the Building Materials industry, providing critical inputs for construction and industrial applications that require consistent quality and supply reliability. This entity maintains a significant scale in its sector, evidenced by a market capitalization of $3.55B and annual revenue of $372.73M, supported by an operational workforce of 346 employees. The substantial market cap relative to its revenue base indicates a high valuation multiple that reflects strong profitability and a dominant market position where the company likely commands pricing power and operates with minimal competition in its specific niche of lime production.
Financial Health
The company demonstrates robust profitability with a trailing twelve-month revenue of $372.73M, net income of $134.28M, and EBITDA of $183.08M. The substantial gap between the $372.73M in revenue and the $134.28M in net income reveals a highly efficient cost structure where operating expenses, including cost of goods sold and administrative costs, are significantly lower than total revenue, allowing for a net profit margin that reaches 36.0%. Free cash flow stands at $68.53M, which provides the company with considerable financial flexibility to fund capital expenditures, reduce debt, or pursue strategic acquisitions without relying on external financing. The margin profile is exceptionally strong, with a gross margin of 55.6% indicating low production costs relative to selling prices, an operating margin of 41.0% showing effective control over operational overhead, and a profit margin of 36.0% confirming the high efficiency of converting sales into actual earnings. The balance sheet is extremely conservative, characterized by a cash position of $371.12M against a negligible debt level of $4.01M, while the debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64 further underscores minimal leverage and low financial risk. Short-term liquidity is virtually unrestricted, as indicated by a current ratio of 19.27, which suggests the company holds nearly twenty times the assets necessary to cover its short-term liabilities. Return on Equity is 23.8% and Return on Assets is 16.1%, metrics that reveal management is highly effective at generating substantial returns on the capital invested by shareholders and utilized in operations.
Valuation Assessment
Valuation metrics suggest a premium pricing model, with a trailing P/E ratio of 26.55 compared to a forward P/E of 20.06. The difference between these two ratios implies that the market expects earnings growth in the future that will eventually bring the forward multiple closer to or below the current trailing multiple, reflecting optimism regarding future profitability expansion. The price-to-book ratio of 5.62 indicates that the market values the company at more than five times its net asset value, suggesting a significant market premium over book value driven by intangible assets, brand strength, or monopoly-like characteristics in the lime industry. Alternative valuation measures such as the price-to-sales ratio of 9.54 and the EV/EBITDA of 17.37 provide additional context, suggesting that investors are willing to pay a high multiple for every dollar of sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Price action shows a 52-week high of $137.96 and a 52-week low of $80.47, placing the stock's recent trading activity within a wide range that captures significant market volatility. The beta value of 1.01 indicates that the stock's price volatility mirrors the broader market movements, meaning it does not amplify or dampen risk significantly relative to the overall market index.
Growth & Income
Revenue growth for the year over year is 9.8%, while earnings growth for the same period is 12.9%. The fact that earnings are growing at a faster pace than revenue implies that the company is benefiting from pricing power, cost efficiencies, or a favorable product mix that allows net income to expand disproportionately to sales volume. For dividend payers, the company offers a dividend yield of 0.2% with a payout ratio of 5.1%, which indicates a highly sustainable dividend policy given the low percentage of earnings distributed relative to the total profit generated. Because the payout ratio is so low, the company retains the vast majority of its earnings, effectively reinvesting them into growth initiatives, capacity expansion, or balance sheet strengthening rather than distributing cash to shareholders. The overall growth and income profile is characterized by strong double-digit earnings expansion, minimal dividend distribution, and a balance sheet strong enough to support internal growth without the need for external capital raising.