Morgan Stanley Upgrades James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) to Overweight

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Macquarie lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

JHX stock opened at $23.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.00 and a 200-day moving average of $33.75. James Hardie Industries has a 12-month low of $23.23 and a 12-month high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. As a group, equities analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JHX. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,718,000 after buying an additional 161,059 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after acquiring an additional 73,504 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after acquiring an additional 161,899 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,243 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 17,783 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 22.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 29,401 shares during the last quarter. 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.