James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Shares Down 3.1% - Time to Sell?

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) dropped 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.43 and last traded at $35.55. Approximately 4,823 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 75,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm's 50 day moving average is $36.40 and its 200 day moving average is $34.93. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.74.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $991.90 million for 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 business's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 38.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the construction company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,630 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 9.1% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,682 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company's stock.

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.