James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.40, but opened at $34.12. James Hardie Industries shares last traded at $34.35, with a volume of 14,649 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.77.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 38.01% and a net margin of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $991.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of James Hardie Industries

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 9.3% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,622 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 41.6% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 15,713 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries during the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 186.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 335,239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,564,000 after acquiring an additional 218,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

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.