This homebuilding company has been waiting for lower rates and it looks like the wait is going to be longer than expected.
MI Homes (MHO) is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) after missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last five quaters. The stock has a Zacks Style Score for Value of B and an D for Growth. This company is highly impacted by interest rates and the dream of multiple interest rate cuts is turning into a nightmare. This article will look at why this stock is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) as it is the Bear of the Day.
Description
M/I Homes, Inc. engages in the construction and development of residential properties. It operates through the following segments: Northern Homebuilding, Southern Homebuilding, and Financial Services. The Northern Homebuilding segment includes Chicago, Illinois, Cincinnati, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Minneapolis or St. Paul, Minnesota, and Detroit, Michigan. The Southern Homebuilding segment refers to Orlando, Florida, Sarasota, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Fort Myers or Naples, Florida, Austin, Texas, Dallas or Fort Worth, Texas, Houston, Texas, San Antonio, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. The Financial Services segment offers mortgage banking services to homebuyers. The company was founded by Irving E. Schottenstein and Melvin Schottenstein in 1976 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH.
Earnings History
When I look at a stock, the first thing I do is look to see if the company is beating the number. This tells me right away where the market’s expectations have been for the company and how management has communicated to the market. A stock that consistently beats has management communicating expectations to Wall Street that can be achieved. That is what you want to see.
In the case of MI Homes (MHO) I see the company has missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. This alone does not make the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it doesn’t make it a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) either.
The Zacks Rank does care about the earnings history, but it is much more heavily influenced by the movement of earnings estimates.
The most recent earnings report from MI Homes (MHO) saw the company post $2.55 in EPS when the Zacks Consensus Estimate was calling for $2.64. That 9 cent miss translates to a -3.4% earnings surprise.
Earnings Estimate Revisions
The Zacks Rank tells us which stocks are seeing earnings estimates move higher or in this case lower. For MI Homes (MHO) I see annual estimates for next year moving lower of late.
The current fiscal year consensus number has decreased from $13.10 to $12.60 over the last 30 days.
The next fiscal year has estimates that have also declined, moving from $17.05 to $15.55 over the last 30 days.
Negative movement in earnings estimates are the primary is why this stock is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
It should be noted that a lot of stocks in the Zacks universe are seeing negative earnings estimate revisions. That means that the stocks that are seeing small but negative earnings estimate revisions are falling to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
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