ABC Arbitrage SA Lowers Position in James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA significantly reduced its stake in James Hardie Industries, trimming its holdings by 71.5% during the first quarter, now owning 13,472 shares worth $317,000.
• Numerous hedge funds have adjusted their positions in James Hardie, with Bank of America increasing its stake by 19.4% and GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by a staggering 2,189.1% in the first quarter.
• Analysts are largely optimistic about James Hardie Industries, as evidenced by multiple upgrades, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $37.34.

ABC Arbitrage SA trimmed its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX - Free Report) by 71.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,472 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 33,826 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in James Hardie Industries were worth $317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,963,000 after purchasing an additional 73,504 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2,189.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,207 shares of the construction company's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $9,345,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.3% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,083 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 55,944 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JHX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Baird R W upgraded James Hardie Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Macquarie upgraded James Hardie Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. William Blair assumed coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Friday, June 27th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.67.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 2.0%

JHX stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.26. 4,145,579 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,403,188. James Hardie Industries PLC. has a 1 year low of $19.72 and a 1 year high of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.63 and a 200-day moving average of $27.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.74.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 31.52% and a net margin of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $971.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $983.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that James Hardie Industries PLC. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

James Hardie Industries 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.