James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Macquarie lowered James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 17.2 %

NYSE JHX traded down $5.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.25. The company had a trading volume of 8,800,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,823. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $23.31 and a one year high of $43.57. The company 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.48 and its 200-day moving average is $33.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. On average, sell-side 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JHX. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 3,381 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $401,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 63,915 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 19,561 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 161,059 shares during the period. 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.