James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. CLSA raised shares of James Hardie Industries to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Vertical Research upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.93.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of JHX opened at $20.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.82 and a 200-day moving average of $22.63. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $34.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 42.44, a P/E/G ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 1.80.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 17th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 4.67%.The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 70.4% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 641.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 4,266.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,310 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 11,238.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors 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.