Short Interest in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Rises By 25.5%

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) was the target of 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. Approximately 0.0% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 309,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on JHX. Truist Financial set a $45.00 price objective on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Macquarie lowered James Hardie Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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James Hardie Industries Stock Down 7.6 %

JHX traded down $1.74 on Friday, reaching $21.23. 3,137,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 291,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $43.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.13.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS 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.