James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Upgraded to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE JHX traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, hitting $31.93. The stock had a trading volume of 10,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,098. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $43.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.76.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its 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. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 38.01% and a net margin of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $991.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,630 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 46.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,496 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.