James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 839,037 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 169% from the previous session’s volume of 312,256 shares.The stock last traded at $20.77 and had previously closed at $20.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JHX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America upgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on James Hardie Industries in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $45.00 price objective on James Hardie Industries in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.45.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.98.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2,189.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,207 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 672.7% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 8,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 854.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 7,050 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 64,297 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 14,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the period. 7.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.