James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

JHX has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Macquarie raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

JHX opened at $32.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.71. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $24.28 and a 52-week high of $41.98.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $991.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 38.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 55.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 693.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $71,000. 7.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.