Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) by 55.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,045 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 374 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in James Hardie Industries were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of JHX. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of James Hardie Industries by 1.1% during the 4th 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. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 186.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 335,239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,564,000 after purchasing an additional 218,033 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $12,697,000 after buying an additional 89,165 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 63,558 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after buying an additional 33,457 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.96% of the company’s stock.

James Hardie Industries Trading Up 5.5 %

JHX opened at $35.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.37. James Hardie Industries plc has a 12 month low of $24.28 and a 12 month high of $41.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.71.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The construction company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 38.97% and a net margin of 12.96%. The business had revenue of $991.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JHX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded James Hardie Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie upgraded shares of James Hardie Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st.

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.