Short Interest in Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Decreases By 13.5%

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a decline of 13.5% from the January 15th total of 1,700,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 384,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BZH. Mill Road Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Mill Road Capital Management LLC now owns 666,058 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 297,989 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 197,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Beazer Homes USA by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 545,983 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,656,000 after acquiring an additional 188,084 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter worth $4,149,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Beazer Homes USA by 783.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 123,702 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,227,000 after acquiring an additional 109,702 shares in the last quarter. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance

NYSE BZH traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $25.10. 745,369 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 429,871. The company has a current ratio of 15.52, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.24. Beazer Homes USA has a 1-year low of $20.66 and a 1-year high of $38.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $783.06 million, a PE ratio of 6.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 2.22.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.21). Beazer Homes USA had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.12%. As a group, analysts expect that Beazer Homes USA will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

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.