James Hardie Industries (JHX) & Its Competitors Head to Head Analysis

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) is one of 40 publicly-traded companies in the “BLDG&CONST – MISC” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare James Hardie Industries to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares James Hardie Industries and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	10.94%	31.52%	12.86%
James Hardie Industries Competitors	-11.01%	65.74%	4.94%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares James Hardie Industries and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
James Hardie Industries	$3.88 billion	$424.00 million	28.87
James Hardie Industries Competitors	$6.80 billion	$567.85 million	24.58

James Hardie Industries’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than James Hardie Industries. James Hardie Industries is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for James Hardie Industries and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0	1	6	0	2.86
James Hardie Industries Competitors	244	1570	2290	111	2.54

James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus price target of $39.12, suggesting a potential upside of 38.27%. As a group, “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies have a potential upside of 3.84%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James Hardie Industries’ peers have a beta of 0.97, meaning that their average share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of shares of all “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of shares of all “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats its peers on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

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. It offers fiber cement interior linings, exterior siding products, and related accessories; and various fiber cement products for a range of applications, including external cladding, internal walls, ceilings, floors, soffits, fences, and facades. The company also provides fiber gypsum and cement-bonded boards for use in the timber frame construction, dry lining, DIY, and structural fire protection applications. Its products are used in residential repair and remodel, and commercial and residential new construction markets James Hardie Industries plc was founded in 1888 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.