Atlanta-based Ashton Woods USA's sharply increasing profitability is improving its credit profile, and we expect that another 25%-plus jump in EBITDA in fiscal 2022 (ending in May) will help keep debt to EBITDA at about 2x. As a result, we raised our issuer credit rating on Ashton Woods to 'B+' from 'B'. We also raised our rating on the company's senior unsecured notes one notch to 'B+'; the recovery rating remains '3'. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the company's EBITDA will stay at about 2x debt, EBITDA will cover interest by more than 7x, and debt to capital will trend below 50%. The stable outlook reflects our view that solid homebuying demand across Ashton Woods' markets will allow
