Short Interest in James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX) Grows By 26.6%

James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,260,000 shares, an increase of 26.6% from the May 15th total of 23,900,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.7 days. Currently, 7.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JHX. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America raised James Hardie Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley raised James Hardie Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JHX. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 12.1% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the construction company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,220 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,695 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JHX traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $23.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,274,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,449. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.46. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $19.72 and a 52-week 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 market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.73.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $971.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.86 million. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 31.52%. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.