Short Interest in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Decreases By 25.1%

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 37,300 shares, a decrease of 25.1% from the February 13th total of 49,800 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 91,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JHX. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 161,899 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 161,059 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after purchasing an additional 73,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 184.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 86,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 56,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $32.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18. James Hardie Industries has a one year low of $29.88 and a one year high of $43.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.21. The stock has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.63 million. As a group, analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on JHX. StockNews.com lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

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.