James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Rating Increased 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 research note issued on Wednesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:JHX opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $29.88 and a fifty-two week high of $43.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.41. The company has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.76.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.49 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 35.93% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JHX. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 55.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 1.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,630 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 46.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,496 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.