KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) Short Interest Up 25.1% in June

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,590,000 shares, a growth of 25.1% from the May 31st total of 25,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of KE from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.10 price objective on shares of KE in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Institutional Trading of KE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in KE by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,363,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,734,000 after buying an additional 4,736,152 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KE by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,575,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,928,000 after acquiring an additional 151,596 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of KE by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,807,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,865,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008,418 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in KE by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,666,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,373,000 after purchasing an additional 804,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in KE in the 1st quarter valued at about $135,880,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

KE Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of BEKE traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,217,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,493,779. KE has a 1-year low of $12.44 and a 1-year high of $20.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of -0.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.91.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. KE had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 4.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KE will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.