KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

KB Home (NYSE:KBH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the January 15th total of 4,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 5.9% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KB Home

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KBH. Bank of America dropped their target price on KB Home from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on KB Home from $85.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised KB Home from an "underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.21.

KB Home Stock Up 1.2 %

KBH stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.83. 1,125,594 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,494,933. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.86. KB Home has a 52-week low of $60.26 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The company has a current ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm's revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. KB Home's payout ratio is 11.81%.

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.