Acadian Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in James Hardie Industries PLC. $JHX

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) by 29.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,376 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 45,704 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in James Hardie Industries were worth $2,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 222.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 279,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,573,000 after buying an additional 192,478 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 160.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,697,663 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,557,000 after buying an additional 1,662,743 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 5,001.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 997,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,510,000 after buying an additional 978,314 shares during the period. Ionic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter valued at about $377,000. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter valued at about $3,419,000. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JHX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, August 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Baird R W raised shares of James Hardie Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries from $32.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.27.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:JHX opened at $20.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.16. James Hardie Industries PLC. has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $43.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.31, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.75.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.07). James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 27.95%. The firm had revenue of $899.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $982.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries PLC. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.