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

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

JHX stock opened at $23.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.18 and its 200-day moving average is $33.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. James Hardie Industries has a 1 year low of $23.31 and a 1 year high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $953.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. Equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 20.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 73,504 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 184.4% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 86,531 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 56,104 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $1,457,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.