Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 451,887 Shares of KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,868,418 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 451,887 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.15% of KBR worth $166,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KBR. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in KBR during the fourth quarter valued at $47,022,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in KBR during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,131,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in KBR by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the construction company's stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KBR during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of KBR by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 355,496 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $20,594,000 after acquiring an additional 4,431 shares in the last quarter. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KBR news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $961,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,214,134.47. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on KBR. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KBR has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.88.

KBR Price Performance

Shares of KBR stock traded down $1.96 on Monday, hitting $45.58. 828,787 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,740. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.77. KBR, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.08 and a 52 week high of $72.60.

KBR (NYSE:KBR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.08. KBR had a net margin of 4.35% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Research analysts expect that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from KBR's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. KBR's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.57%.

KBR Company Profile

KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.