William Blair Begins Coverage on James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX)

Equities researchers at William Blair assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating on the construction company's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Macquarie lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.12.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

JHX opened at $25.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.73. James Hardie Industries has a 1-year low of $19.72 and a 1-year high of $43.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $13,963,000 after acquiring an additional 73,504 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in James Hardie Industries by 262.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in James Hardie Industries by 2,189.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,207 shares of the construction company's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 30,800 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,100,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 522 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.

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