JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) to Overweight

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of JHX opened at $32.34 on Wednesday. James Hardie Industries has a 1-year low of $26.40 and a 1-year high of $43.57. The stock has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.51.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 38.01%. The firm had revenue of $991.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. James Hardie Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JHX. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the second quarter valued at about $12,162,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 313,931 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after buying an additional 89,165 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the third quarter valued at about $2,369,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the second quarter valued at about $1,671,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 83.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 51,996 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 23,723 shares during 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.