Bank of America Upgrades James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) to Buy

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The firm currently has a $27.35 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $27.40. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.59% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on JHX. Morgan Stanley raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie cut shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James set a $55.00 price target on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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 target on the stock. One equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

JHX traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.51. 5,536,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 189,896. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $23.23 and a 52-week high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the third quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.