Wellington Management Group LLP Buys New Position in James Hardie Industries PLC. $JHX

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries, acquiring 3,842,376 shares valued at approximately $90.5 million, bringing their ownership to around 0.89% of the company.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on James Hardie Industries, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $33.27, despite recent quarterly earnings reports showing a 9.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• James Hardie Industries' stock price has recently gained 6.5%, with a current market capitalization of $8.53 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77.

Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,842,376 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $90,526,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.89% of James Hardie Industries as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JHX. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 59,775.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,325,912 shares of the construction company's stock worth $125,478,000 after purchasing an additional 5,317,017 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $87,858,000. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $9,345,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 161,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 161,059 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company's stock.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock traded up $0.27 on Wednesday, hitting $20.37. 2,265,019 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,170,655. James Hardie Industries PLC. has a one year low of $17.91 and a one year high of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 3.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.40. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.74.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.07). James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 27.95%. The business had revenue of $899.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $982.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries PLC. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JHX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on James Hardie Industries from $32.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen cut James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. William Blair started coverage on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on James Hardie Industries in a research note on Friday, August 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $33.27.

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.