James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 893,026 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 99% from the previous session’s volume of 447,919 shares.The stock last traded at $22.06 and had previously closed at $22.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JHX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial set a $45.00 target price on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Macquarie downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, James Hardie Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. Sell-side analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 964,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,718,000 after buying an additional 161,059 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,994,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 19.4% during 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. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 184.4% in the fourth 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 period. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About James Hardie Industries

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.