Yahoo Finance Is Now The Time To Look At Buying James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX)?
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX) saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the ASX over the last few months. As a large-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Let’s take a look at James Hardie Industries’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.
Check out our latest analysis for James Hardie Industries
What's The Opportunity In James Hardie Industries?
According to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average, the stock currently looks expensive. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that James Hardie Industries’s ratio of 23.68x is above its peer average of 14.54x, which suggests the stock is trading at a higher price compared to the Basic Materials industry. But, is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Given that James Hardie Industries’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.
Can we expect growth from James Hardie Industries?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 80% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for James Hardie Industries. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in JHX’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe JHX should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on JHX for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for JHX, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that James Hardie Industries has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.
If you are no longer interested in James Hardie Industries, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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