Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) Downgraded by Wedbush to “Neutral”

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wedbush from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $32.00 target price on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BZH. Zelman & Associates raised Beazer Homes USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Sidoti upgraded shares of Beazer Homes USA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Beazer Homes USA from $28.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Beazer Homes USA Price Performance

Shares of Beazer Homes USA stock opened at $26.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 15.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Beazer Homes USA has a 52 week low of $12.29 and a 52 week high of $35.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.06. The company has a market capitalization of $834.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 2.33.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The construction company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.41. Beazer Homes USA had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 18.66%. The firm had revenue of $645.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $627.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 107.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 264,624 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after purchasing an additional 136,954 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 167,312 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,073 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 54.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 5,973 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $196,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,013,201 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.07% of the company’s stock.

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 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.