James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Shares Gap Up to $34.43

Shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.43, but opened at $35.43. James Hardie Industries shares last traded at $34.92, with a volume of 4,700 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JHX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of James Hardie Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America cut shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $35.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd.

James Hardie Industries Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The construction company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $978.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.23 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 38.75% and a net margin of 13.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,002,215 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,235 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 119,208 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $4,532,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 754.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 116,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,055,000 after buying an additional 102,923 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in James Hardie Industries by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 63,558 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,458,000 after buying an additional 33,457 shares during the period. 7.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.