James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded by Baird R W to Strong-Buy Rating

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Baird R W to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on JHX. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.34.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX opened at $27.52 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $25.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.84. James Hardie Industries has a 12 month low of $19.72 and a 12 month high of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.75.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $971.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.86 million. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 31.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JHX. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 59,775.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,325,912 shares of the construction company's stock worth $125,478,000 after acquiring an additional 5,317,017 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,526,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,858,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 160.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,697,663 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $63,557,000 after buying an additional 1,662,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 5,001.3% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 997,875 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $23,510,000 after buying an additional 978,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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