James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $25.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

JHX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, August 21st. William Blair started coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, August 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of James Hardie Industries from $32.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.89.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

James Hardie Industries stock opened at $19.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.55 and a 200-day moving average of $24.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.79. James Hardie Industries has a 1-year low of $17.85 and a 1-year high of $38.79.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $899.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $982.60 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 27.95% and a net margin of 8.75%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JHX. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 241.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,718,075 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $341,989,000 after purchasing an additional 8,988,938 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 59,775.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,325,912 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,478,000 after purchasing an additional 5,317,017 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $90,526,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1,883.6% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,874,198 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,177,000 after acquiring an additional 3,678,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,249,000. Institutional investors 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.