Short Interest in James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) Grows By 26.6%

James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,260,000 shares, a growth of 26.6% from the May 15th total of 23,900,000 shares. Approximately 7.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JHX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Macquarie downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.12.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of JHX stock opened at $24.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. James Hardie Industries has a fifty-two week low of $19.72 and a fifty-two week high of $43.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.60. The stock has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.73.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $971.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.86 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 31.52% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in James Hardie Industries by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,260 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 12.1% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.