James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) Short Interest Down 23.1% in October

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 66,500 shares, a decrease of 23.1% from the October 15th total of 86,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 105,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

James Hardie Industries Price Performance

NYSE JHX opened at $36.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.41. James Hardie Industries has a twelve month low of $29.88 and a twelve month high of $43.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.94.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $960.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.49 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 36.30% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that James Hardie Industries will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JHX. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in shares of James Hardie Industries during the third quarter valued at about $2,369,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,162,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 51,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 23,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 313,931 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 89,165 shares during the period. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on JHX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of James Hardie Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.