James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

JHX stock opened at $35.62 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.41. The firm has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. James Hardie Industries has a 12 month low of $29.88 and a 12 month high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 35.93%. The business had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JHX. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,162,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 317.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 172,460 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,924,000 after buying an additional 131,120 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,369,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,671,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in James Hardie Industries by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after acquiring an additional 29,401 shares during the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

James Hardie Industries Company Profile

James Hardie Industries plc manufactures and sells fiber cement, fiber gypsum, and cement bonded building products for interior and exterior building construction applications primarily in the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The company operates through North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement, and Europe Building Products segments.