NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 254 Shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its position in KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,793 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in KB Home were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KB Home in the 4th quarter worth about $49,638,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in KB Home during the fourth quarter worth about $44,118,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KB Home in the fourth quarter worth about $12,288,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of KB Home by 4,083.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 146,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,623,000 after purchasing an additional 142,922 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of KB Home by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 727,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,832,000 after buying an additional 142,913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KBH shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of KB Home from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of KB Home in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of KB Home from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.04.

KB Home Stock Up 2.9 %

KBH opened at $51.59 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.08. KB Home has a 52 week low of $48.90 and a 52 week high of $89.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 6.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.65.

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

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.20%.

Insider Transactions at KB Home

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.89% of the company’s stock.

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.