James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Rating Increased 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 research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut James Hardie Industries from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Macquarie upgraded James Hardie Industries from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock opened at $35.88 on Tuesday. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $24.28 and a 52-week high of $41.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.33.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 38.01%. The business had revenue of $991.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 693.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 38.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries in the first quarter worth $71,000. 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.