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

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Macquarie lowered James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 17.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded down $5.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.25. The company had a trading volume of 8,546,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,221. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. Research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in James Hardie Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,771 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 13,981 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 29,401 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 262.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 67.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,074 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 20,496 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.