James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.45.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday. Raymond James set a $55.00 price target on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Macquarie lowered James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JHX opened at $24.24 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.57. James Hardie Industries has a twelve month low of $23.23 and a twelve month high of $43.57. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.63 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

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.