Zacks Research Upgrades KE (NYSE:BEKE) to “Strong-Buy”

KE (NYSE:BEKE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on BEKE. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. CLSA began coverage on KE in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $23.80 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of KE from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of KE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.64.

KE Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of KE stock opened at $17.73 on Wednesday. KE has a 1-year low of $13.81 and a 1-year high of $20.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 3.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of -0.29.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 21st. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.11. KE had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 5.38%.The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KE will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KE

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in KE during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in KE by 330.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in KE by 254.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KE by 145.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 2,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KE by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 2,298 shares during the last quarter. 39.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc (NYSE: BEKE) is a technology-driven real estate services company that operates an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and related services in mainland China. The company provides consumer-facing property listing marketplaces alongside a broad network of offline brokerage offices and agents, aiming to facilitate sales, rentals and new-home transactions for individual and institutional clients.

The company’s offerings span property listings for new and resale homes, rental listings, brokerage representation and transaction facilitation.