James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

JHX traded down $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.79. The stock had a trading volume of 117,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,502. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.43. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.76. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $29.24 and a one year high of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $991.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 38.01% and a net margin of 12.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $12,162,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 313,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 89,165 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 317.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 172,460 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,924,000 after purchasing an additional 131,120 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 77,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 10,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,496 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.