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

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 37,300 shares, a drop of 25.1% from the February 13th total of 49,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 91,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,694 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 3,381 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $401,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 63,915 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after buying an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 19,561 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,718,000 after buying an additional 161,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock opened at $32.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. James Hardie Industries has a twelve month low of $29.88 and a twelve month high of $43.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.53 and its 200 day moving average is $34.18.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.63 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Truist Financial started coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.