Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.41 EPS

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The construction company reported ($0.90) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.41), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $363.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $423.23 million. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 2.11% and a net margin of 0.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Beazer Homes USA’s conference call:

• Q1 was weak with 763 homes sold (1.5 sales per community per month), adjusted EBITDA of negative $11.2M and diluted loss per share of $1.13, which included a one?time $6.4M pre?tax litigation charge.
• Management reports improving buyer traffic since mid?December and January sales pace in line with the prior year, giving a plausible path to stronger H2 sales if market conditions stabilize.
• The company expects roughly 300 basis points of homebuilding gross margin expansion by year?end driven by >$10,000 per?home direct cost reductions, favorable mix from newer communities, and more to?be?built sales.
• Solar?Included Homes are being expanded (targeting ~20% of business by year?end), with installation costs reduced to under $2/kWh and early results showing strong buyer enthusiasm and above?average margins in those communities.
• Capital allocation is focused on selling ~$150M of non?strategic land to fund accretive share repurchases ($72M remaining authorization), with management targeting 5%–10% book value per share growth by year?end while keeping net leverage at or below ~40%.

Beazer Homes USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BZH traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 680,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,983. Beazer Homes USA has a 12-month low of $17.37 and a 12-month high of $27.29. The company has a market cap of $671.74 million, a P/E ratio of 75.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 19.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BZH shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Beazer Homes USA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded Beazer Homes USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Beazer Homes USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.33.

Institutional Trading of Beazer Homes USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 928.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 376,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,235,000 after buying an additional 339,607 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Beazer Homes USA by 1,385.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 229,705 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,639,000 after purchasing an additional 214,239 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 198,855 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,055,000 after purchasing an additional 52,062 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Beazer Homes USA by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 141,234 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,467,000 after purchasing an additional 34,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 101.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 127,555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 64,220 shares during the period. 85.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Beazer Homes USA Company Profile

Beazer Homes USA, Inc is a national homebuilder specializing in the design, construction and sale of single-family homes. The company serves a diverse range of buyers, offering product lines that span from entry-level homes to move-up and active adult communities. In addition to its core homebuilding operations, Beazer provides mortgage financing, title and closing services through its subsidiaries, aiming to simplify the home-buying process and manage risk across the transaction.

Operating in key growth markets across the United States, Beazer Homes maintains a presence in more than a dozen metropolitan areas, including select markets in the Southeast, Southwest and West.