James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $32.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley raised James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price objective on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America raised James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Macquarie lowered James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.34.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX opened at $27.52 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.75. James Hardie Industries has a 1 year low of $19.72 and a 1 year high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 31.52% and a net margin of 10.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,260 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

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.