KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the January 15th total of 4,740,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Transactions at KB Home

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,891,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,708.21. The trade was a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KB Home

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in KB Home by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in KB Home by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,815 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in KB Home by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in KB Home by 10.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in KB Home by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,465 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KB Home Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KBH opened at $64.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. KB Home has a 52-week low of $60.26 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.86.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.08. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. KB Home’s payout ratio is currently 11.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on KBH. Bank of America cut their price target on KB Home from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on KB Home from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on KB Home from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised KB Home from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded KB Home from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.21.

KB Home Company Profile

KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers.