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 . 3,498,751 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 274% from the previous session’s volume of 936,507 shares.The stock last traded at $26.95 and had previously closed at $25.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JHX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on James Hardie Industries from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Macquarie downgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. 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. Finally, Raymond James set a $55.00 price objective on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.12.

James Hardie Industries Stock Up 4.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.50 and its 200 day moving average is $29.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.18.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $971.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.86 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James Hardie Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in James Hardie Industries by 12.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. 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.