James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.73, but opened at $23.26. James Hardie Industries shares last traded at $23.71, with a volume of 440,246 shares trading hands.

The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 33.65%. The business had revenue of $971.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. James Hardie Industries's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on JHX. Macquarie cut shares of James Hardie Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, James Hardie Industries currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 262.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter worth $1,100,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the construction company's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 156.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,327 shares of the construction company's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 7,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,741 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 17,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company's stock.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 4.2%

The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company's fifty day moving average is $24.31 and its 200-day moving average is $30.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80.

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.

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