Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 1,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 299,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 5.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BZH traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.22. 204,329 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 238,045. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 14.29. Beazer Homes USA has a twelve month low of $25.39 and a twelve month high of $38.22. The company has a market cap of $880.67 million, a PE ratio of 6.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.24.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.34. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $806.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $775.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David I. Goldberg sold 6,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.06, for a total transaction of $194,187.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 131,004 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,988.24. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beazer Homes USA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 6,876 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Beazer Homes USA by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 36,015 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,412 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 25,082 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 142,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 5,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

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.