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

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 299,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 5.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance

Shares of Beazer Homes USA stock opened at $28.22 on Tuesday. Beazer Homes USA has a 12 month low of $25.39 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 capitalization of $880.59 million, a PE ratio of 6.23, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.03.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $775.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Beazer Homes USA’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Beazer Homes USA news, CFO David I. Goldberg sold 6,057 shares of Beazer Homes USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 owns 131,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,199,988.24. The trade was a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 27,666 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Beazer Homes USA by 711.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 225,453 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,704,000 after purchasing an additional 197,666 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,370,000. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the third quarter valued at about $286,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the third quarter worth about $910,000. Institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.