Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 140,213 Shares of KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 663,233 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,213 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.49% of KBR worth $44,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in KBR by 29.4% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,286,779 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $146,674,000 after buying an additional 520,207 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of KBR by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP now owns 1,877,497 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $120,423,000 after purchasing an additional 507,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in KBR by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,778,765 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $114,090,000 after purchasing an additional 113,140 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in KBR by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,766,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $113,331,000 after acquiring an additional 196,693 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in KBR by 359.9% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,467,650 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $93,431,000 after buying an additional 1,148,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KBR has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of KBR from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut KBR from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on KBR from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen cut shares of KBR from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KBR from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at KBR

In other news, insider Jalal Ibrahim sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,550 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,968. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

KBR Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KBR opened at $67.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.29 and its 200 day moving average is $65.53. KBR, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.37 and a 1 year high of $71.38.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.84. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. KBR had a net margin of 4.35% and a return on equity of 28.87%. KBR’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBR Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. KBR’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.21%.

About KBR

KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.