Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Short Interest Down 6.6% in December

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) was the target of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the November 30th total of 1,660,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 309,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Insider Activity at Beazer Homes USA

In other Beazer Homes USA news, CFO David I. Goldberg sold 6,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.06, for a total value of $194,187.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 131,004 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,988.24. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 142,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,796 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,741 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,516,000 after buying an additional 39,752 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Beazer Homes USA in the third quarter worth approximately $182,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Beazer Homes USA during the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zelman & Associates restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.67.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance

Shares of BZH opened at $27.46 on Thursday. Beazer Homes USA has a 12-month low of $25.48 and a 12-month high of $38.22. The company has a current ratio of 14.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $856.83 million, a PE ratio of 6.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 2.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.05.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $806.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $775.42 million. Beazer Homes USA had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 11.95%. Beazer Homes USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beazer Homes USA Company Profile

Beazer Homes USA, Inc operates as a homebuilder in the United States. It designs, constructs, and sells single-family and multi-family homes under the Beazer Homes, Gatherings, and Choice Plans names. The company also sells its homes through commissioned new home sales counselors and independent brokers in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Indiana, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.