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

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 66,500 shares, a decline of 23.1% from the October 15th total of 86,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 105,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $12,162,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 313,931 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after acquiring an additional 89,165 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 317.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 172,460 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,924,000 after acquiring an additional 131,120 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 22.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 160,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after acquiring an additional 29,401 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 16.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 77,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 10,803 shares during the period. 7.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JHX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 1.6 %

JHX stock opened at $35.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.41. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $29.88 and a fifty-two week high of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.76.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.49 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 36.30% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.