James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Bank of America downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $35.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

JHX stock opened at $36.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.59. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $21.76 and a one year high of $41.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.89.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 38.75%. The firm had revenue of $978.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 15,713 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,622 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,002,215 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,756,000 after buying an additional 11,235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.