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

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 57,800 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 68,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 67,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 693.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 38.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the 1st quarter worth $71,000. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JHX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Macquarie raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,112. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.44. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $24.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.98. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.74.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $991.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 38.01%. James Hardie Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.46 EPS 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.