KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on KB Home from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of KB Home from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of KB Home in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KB Home currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.21.

KB Home Trading Down 2.4 %

KB Home stock opened at $57.79 on Wednesday. KB Home has a 12-month low of $56.41 and a 12-month high of $89.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The construction company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.07). KB Home had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 16.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,708.21. This represents a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in KB Home by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,815 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 43.6% in 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. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in KB Home by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 880 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in KB Home by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,019 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.