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

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

Beazer Homes USA Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of BZH stock traded up $0.92 on Tuesday, reaching $22.25. 72,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 365,483. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 15.52 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Beazer Homes USA has a one year low of $20.66 and a one year high of $38.22. The stock has a market cap of $694.14 million, a PE ratio of 5.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.91.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Beazer Homes USA news, CFO David I. Goldberg sold 6,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 is available through this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the third quarter worth approximately $125,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Metis Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.