KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $86.00 to $80.00. The stock had previously closed at $53.32, but opened at $51.31. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. KB Home shares last traded at $53.26, with a volume of 949,280 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KBH. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of KB Home from $81.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on KB Home from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of KB Home in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on KB Home from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on KB Home from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KB Home presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.38, for a total value of $271,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $558,047.56. This trade represents a 32.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KB Home during the fourth quarter valued at $49,638,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in KB Home by 4,408.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 523,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,372,000 after buying an additional 511,400 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in KB Home by 116.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 942,479 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,957,000 after buying an additional 506,415 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in KB Home by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,327,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $87,264,000 after buying an additional 503,895 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in KB Home by 1,136.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 423,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,822,000 after acquiring an additional 389,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Trading Up 0.5%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 6.01 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 6.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.35.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 23rd. The construction company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.13%. KB Home’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.20%.

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.