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 research note released on Thursday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised James Hardie Industries from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, James Hardie Industries currently has a consensus rating of Hold.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

NYSE JHX opened at $31.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45. James Hardie Industries has a 52 week low of $17.25 and a 52 week high of $31.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.87.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The construction company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 37.62%. The company had revenue of $998.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $976.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. James Hardie Industries’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JHX. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 150.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,472 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,926 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 27,726 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 9,305 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 9.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,524 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% 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.