James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.5556.

JHX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of James Hardie Industries from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the second quarter valued at about $5,459,000. Breakwater Capital Group acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $273,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 46.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 19.8% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 420,152 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 81.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,512,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,653,000 after purchasing an additional 679,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $24.81. The stock had a trading volume of 5,243,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,884,765. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.07 and a 200 day moving average of $22.36. James Hardie Industries has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $29.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.79 and a beta of 1.77.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 2.15% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

James Hardie Industries Company Profile

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE: JHX) is a global manufacturer of high-performance fiber cement building products. The company specializes in exterior cladding, trim and soffit, as well as interior backerboard solutions designed for residential and commercial construction. By combining cement, sand and cellulose fibers, James Hardie produces durable, low-maintenance materials that resist moisture, fire and termite damage, catering to builders, contractors and homeowners through a network of distributors and retail channels.

The company’s flagship products include Hardie® Plank® and Hardie® Panel® siding systems, Hardie® BackerBoard® for tile applications, and a range of architectural trim solutions.