Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the August 31st total of 1,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 421,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BZH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zelman & Associates reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Beazer Homes USA from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley dropped their target price on Beazer Homes USA from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Beazer Homes USA from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beazer Homes USA

In related news, EVP Keith L. Belknap, Jr. sold 13,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $413,687.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,119 shares in the company, valued at $5,043,376.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Keith L. Belknap, Jr. sold 13,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $413,687.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,043,376.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Keith L. Belknap, Jr. sold 13,300 shares of Beazer Homes USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.17, for a total value of $414,561.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,701,028.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BZH. Boston Partners bought a new position in Beazer Homes USA during the first quarter worth $15,411,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,943,211 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $96,537,000 after buying an additional 356,569 shares during the period. Brightline Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,137,000. EMG Holdings L.P. bought a new position in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,831,000. Finally, Carlson Capital L P lifted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 63.9% during the first quarter. Carlson Capital L P now owns 333,600 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,942,000 after acquiring an additional 130,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance

Shares of BZH opened at $33.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 6.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 2.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.27 and a 200-day moving average of $29.71. Beazer Homes USA has a one year low of $22.03 and a one year high of $35.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 12.42 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $595.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $597.67 million. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 6.63%. Beazer Homes USA’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Beazer Homes USA

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.