James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.12.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JHX shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James set a $55.00 price target on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Macquarie lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,816,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,375. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $19.72 and a fifty-two week high of $43.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.73.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $971.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.86 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 59,775.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $90,526,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $87,858,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 160.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,697,663 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $63,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 5,001.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 997,875 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $23,510,000 after purchasing an additional 978,314 shares during the period. 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.