James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Macquarie cut shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded down $5.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $24.25. The stock had a trading volume of 8,546,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,221. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. James Hardie Industries has a 52 week low of $23.31 and a 52 week high of $43.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,718,000 after buying an additional 161,059 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after acquiring an additional 73,504 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after acquiring an additional 161,899 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in James Hardie Industries by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,243 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,861,000 after acquiring an additional 17,783 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 22.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 29,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

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.