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

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a decline of 13.5% from the January 15th total of 4,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

KB Home Price Performance

KBH opened at $64.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.50. KB Home has a 12-month low of $60.26 and a 12-month high of $89.70.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. KB Home’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on KB Home from $85.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,370,708.21. This represents a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KB Home

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KB Home in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of KB Home by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of KB Home by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of KB Home by 275.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

About KB Home

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.