Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Short Interest Up 6.5% in December

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

Beazer Homes USA Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE BZH traded down $0.35 on Friday, reaching $28.22. The stock had a trading volume of 204,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 238,045. Beazer Homes USA has a 12-month low of $25.39 and a 12-month high of $38.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $880.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 14.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $775.42 million. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 Beazer Homes USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.06, for a total value of $194,187.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 131,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,988.24. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BZH. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Beazer Homes USA by 91.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 57,769 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 27,666 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 711.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 225,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,704,000 after acquiring an additional 197,666 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Beazer Homes USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,370,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Beazer Homes USA during the 3rd quarter worth $286,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Beazer Homes USA during the 3rd quarter worth $910,000. 85.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.