James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Short Interest Update

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 46,800 shares, an increase of 25.5% from the February 28th total of 37,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 309,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $293,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,771 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 13,981 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 22.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 29,401 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 262.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 67.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 20,496 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded up $0.57 on Wednesday, reaching $23.69. 4,365,124 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,566. James Hardie Industries has a twelve month low of $22.85 and a twelve month high of $43.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.97 and a 200-day moving average of $33.33. The company has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. On average, research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, James Hardie Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.45.

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.