James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Coverage Initiated at Barclays

Investment analysts at Barclays assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $21.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.98% from the company’s previous close.

JHX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on James Hardie Industries from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Vertical Research raised James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.93.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:JHX opened at $19.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.80. James Hardie Industries has a 1 year low of $16.46 and a 1 year high of $35.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.88 and a 200-day moving average of $22.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 17th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 4.67%.The business’s revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JHX. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 70.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in James Hardie Industries by 641.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in James Hardie Industries by 4,266.7% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,310 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 11,238.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,474 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the second quarter worth $52,000. 7.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.