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

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,020,000 shares, a growth of 19,173.5% from the March 15th total of 46,800 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JHX. Clarius Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 10,529 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $1,994,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $440,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,694 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2,189.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,207 shares of the construction company's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 30,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JHX shares. Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial set a $45.00 target price on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

James Hardie Industries stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.58. 3,428,407 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,994. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $19.72 and a fifty-two week high of $43.57. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.79. 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 capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $953.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. On average, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries 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.