Kennedy-Wilson (NYSE:KW) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KW)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $7.47, but opened at $9.76. Kennedy-Wilson shares last traded at $9.7350, with a volume of 884,814 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Kennedy-Wilson’s payout ratio is currently -71.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on KW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kennedy-Wilson from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kennedy-Wilson from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kennedy-Wilson in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Kennedy-Wilson Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.73, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.04, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Kennedy-Wilson (NYSE:KW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $135.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.98 million. Kennedy-Wilson had a positive return on equity of 12.90% and a negative net margin of 9.11%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennedy-Wilson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Kennedy-Wilson by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 30,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Kennedy-Wilson in the first quarter worth $139,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kennedy-Wilson by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 588,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,106,000 after buying an additional 15,379 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kennedy-Wilson by 17.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 15,950 shares during the period. Finally, Rock Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kennedy-Wilson by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 1,059,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,192,000 after acquiring an additional 13,015 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kennedy-Wilson Company Profile

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment company. The company owns, operates, and invests in real estate both on its own and through its investment management platform. It focuses on multifamily and office properties located in the Western United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Japan.