James Hardie Industries (JHX) versus Its Peers Critical Survey

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 rivals? We will compare James Hardie Industries to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of shares of all “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of shares of all “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares James Hardie Industries and its rivals’ 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%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for James Hardie Industries and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0	1	7	1	3.00
James Hardie Industries Competitors	245	1571	2294	112	2.54

James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus target price of $37.34, suggesting a potential upside of 42.93%. As a group, “BLDG&CONST – MISC” companies have a potential upside of 7.54%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than its rivals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares James Hardie Industries and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
James Hardie Industries	$3.88 billion	$424.00 million	26.66
James Hardie Industries Competitors	$6.80 billion	$567.85 million	23.81

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

Volatility & Risk

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

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats its rivals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

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. 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.