James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 237,074 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 136% from the previous session’s volume of 100,591 shares.The stock last traded at $33.93 and had previously closed at $32.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JHX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.56. The stock has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 35.93% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. James Hardie Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,551 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,630 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased 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 worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 46.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.