Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 9,148 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 290% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,345 call options.

A number of research analysts recently commented on KBH shares. Zelman & Associates cut KB Home from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Raymond James upped their price objective on KB Home from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on KB Home in a report on Tuesday, December 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KB Home from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on KB Home from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. KB Home has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.53.

In other news, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 173,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total transaction of $5,886,945.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,372,731.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total value of $128,448.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 991,090 shares in the company, valued at $35,362,091.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 450,680 shares of company stock worth $16,211,727. Insiders own 5.36% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in KB Home by 122.1% in the third quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in KB Home in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Smith Asset Management Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KB Home by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.79% of the company’s stock.

NYSE:KBH traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.01. The stock had a trading volume of 6,251,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,665,260. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.95. KB Home has a twelve month low of $9.82 and a twelve month high of $42.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.12.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 11th. The construction company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The firm’s revenue was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KB Home will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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. The company 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.

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