KB Home Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KBH)

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 2,522 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the average volume of 1,961 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KBH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of KB Home from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of KB Home from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KB Home presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.46.

KB Home Trading Down 6.8 %

KBH stock traded down $4.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.56. 1,062,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,036. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. KB Home has a 52-week low of $58.80 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.17 and a 200-day moving average of $72.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 5.51.

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

KB Home Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,891,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,370,708.21. This trade represents a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KB Home

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in KB Home by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of KB Home by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of KB Home in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 275.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of KB Home by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 880 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during 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.