Short Interest in Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) Expands By 6.2%

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the May 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 362,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Beazer Homes USA Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BZH traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.42. 147,377 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 346,173. Beazer Homes USA has a 12 month low of $22.03 and a 12 month high of $35.93. The company has a market cap of $833.55 million, a PE ratio of 5.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 13.50 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.87.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The construction company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.35. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.48%. The business had revenue of $541.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Beazer Homes USA’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Beazer Homes USA

In related news, EVP Keith L. Belknap, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of Beazer Homes USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.31, for a total transaction of $424,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 195,819 shares in the company, valued at $5,543,635.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 152.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 485,318 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,089,000 after purchasing an additional 292,706 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Beazer Homes USA by 96.1% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 44,066 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 21,599 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Beazer Homes USA by 723.7% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 126,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after acquiring an additional 110,931 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 207.9% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 42,408 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 28,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $461,000. 85.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BZH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Beazer Homes USA from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Beazer Homes USA in a report on Friday, May 31st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

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.