James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Overweight Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Separately, StockNews.com raised James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 0.1 %

James Hardie Industries stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.27. The stock had a trading volume of 18,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,135. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.16 and a 200 day moving average of $34.49. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $43.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $12,162,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 313,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 89,165 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 317.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 172,460 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,924,000 after purchasing an additional 131,120 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in James Hardie Industries by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 77,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after buying an additional 10,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,496 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. 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.