James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 46,800 shares, an increase of 25.5% from the February 28th total of 37,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 309,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in James Hardie Industries by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,551 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in James Hardie Industries by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 52,416 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JHX. Macquarie cut James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America raised James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James set a $55.00 target price on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded down $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,401,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,535. 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 12-month low of $22.93 and a 12-month high of $43.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.49.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. The company had revenue of $953.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.63 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 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.