Jennison Associates LLC Acquires Shares of 117,206 James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX)

Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 117,206 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $4,532,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 754.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 116,574 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,055,000 after buying an additional 102,923 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 357.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 30,101 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 23,524 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $549,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $506,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the third quarter valued at about $271,000. Institutional investors own 7.96% of the company's stock.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 3.2 %

JHX stock traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.07. The stock had a trading volume of 61,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,130. James Hardie Industries plc has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $41.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $38.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.12. The company has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.69.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. James Hardie Industries had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 38.75%. The business had revenue of $978.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on JHX. Bank of America downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $35.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th.

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.