James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,211,758 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 195% from the previous session’s volume of 410,431 shares.The stock last traded at $22.36 and had previously closed at $22.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Macquarie lowered shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, James Hardie Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 2.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.09.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) 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. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,164 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after acquiring an additional 161,899 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in James Hardie Industries by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 161,059 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,963,000 after purchasing an additional 73,504 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in James Hardie Industries by 184.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 86,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 56,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $1,457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

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.