Wells Fargo & Company MN Decreases Holdings in James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its holdings in shares of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,305 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,707 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in James Hardie Industries were worth $4,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JHX. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in James Hardie Industries in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in James Hardie Industries by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 972 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in James Hardie Industries by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,260 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in James Hardie Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 7.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of James Hardie Industries stock opened at $22.58 on Monday. James Hardie Industries plc has a 12 month low of $19.72 and a 12 month high of $43.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.70.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $953.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.63 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 11.15%. On average, equities research analysts expect that James Hardie Industries plc will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JHX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of James Hardie Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $27.40 to $27.35 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Macquarie cut James Hardie Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised James Hardie Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.45.

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.