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

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial began coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 1.6 %

JHX stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.29. 139,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 85,363. James Hardie Industries has a 12 month low of $28.77 and a 12 month high of $43.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.03. The company has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,718,000 after acquiring an additional 161,059 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 161,899 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,243 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 17,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

About James Hardie Industries

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.