James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 86,500 shares, a decline of 75.6% from the September 30th total of 353,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 105,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,630 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 46.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,496 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 1.9 %

JHX stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.16. The company had a trading volume of 39,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 131,309. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $24.28 and a 52-week high of $43.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.76.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $991.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 38.01%. The company's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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.

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