First Trust Advisors LP Buys Shares of 19,734 James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX)

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,734 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter worth $1,457,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $1,100,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter worth $1,025,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $669,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,243 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 17,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on JHX shares. Morgan Stanley raised James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised James Hardie Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie cut James Hardie Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Raymond James set a $55.00 target price on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

James Hardie Industries stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,070,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,338. The firm's 50 day moving average is $25.21 and its 200 day moving average is $30.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. James Hardie Industries plc has a one year low of $19.72 and a one year high of $43.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.