Noteworthy Insider Trading Activity Witnessed at Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH) and 4 Other Companies

Beazer Homes’ Chairman Acquires Large Block of Shares Amid Earnings Disappointment

Non-Executive Chairman of Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH), Stephen P. Zelnak Jr., purchased 30,000 shares on Wednesday and 25,000 shares on Thursday for $7.25 each, boosting his ownership to 191,920 shares. The shares of the diversified homebuilder are down by 37% year-to-date, which partly reflects “uncertainty in the broader economy” that caused “an uneven start to the spring selling season” at Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH), according to the company’s latest earnings report. The impact of this uncertainty could be noticed in those financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016 ended March 31, which showed that Beazer’s total number of new-home orders decreased by 9.4% during the quarter to 1,538. The company’s aggregate dollar value of homes in its backlog for the quarter also dropped by 5.1% year-over-year to $773.0 million, while cancellation rates climbed to 17.6% from 16.7%. Nonetheless, the company’s homebuilding revenue for the fiscal second quarter grew by 31.8% year-over-year to $377.26 million. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management upped its position in Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH) by 41% during the January-to-March quarter, to nearly 931,000 shares.

Myers Industries Had Two Insiders Purchase Shares Last Week, Including Newly-Appointed CEO

To start with, Jane Scaccetti, Board member at Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE:MYE), purchased a new stake of 2,800 shares on Thursday at $13.70 apiece. More importantly, R. David Banyard, elected as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer in December, acquired a new stake of 10,000 shares on Thursday at prices that fell between $13.64 and $14.00 per share, followed by another purchase of 10,000 shares on Friday at prices ranging from $13.80 to $13.88 per share.

The manufacturer of polymer products has seen its market value gain nearly 7% since the beginning of 2016. The management of Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE:MYE) anticipates 2016 revenue to be between flat and a low-single-digit dip on a constant currency basis, mainly owing to weak demand conditions across certain end-markets. Despite sustained pressure on its top-line results, the company has been able to drive up its bottom-line figures due to operational improvements and from the positive impact of input costs. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies had 32,400 shares of Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE:MYE) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.