James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $27.35 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $27.40.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of JHX stock opened at $24.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.59. James Hardie Industries has a 52 week low of $23.23 and a 52 week high of $43.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $953.30 million during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,694 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 3,381 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $401,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 63,915 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 5,339 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 19,561 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 161,059 shares in the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.