Jefferies Financial Group Reiterates Buy Rating for James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX)

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of JHX traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.04. 106,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 117,686. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $29.88 and a one year high of $43.57. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.50 and a 200-day moving average of $34.69.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $960.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.49 million. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 35.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the third quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other 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.