KBR (NYSE:KBR) Hits New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $64.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. KBR traded as low as $47.55 and last traded at $50.26, with a volume of 6210495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.14.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on KBR. TD Cowen cut their price objective on KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of KBR in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of KBR from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp cut 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.88.

Institutional Trading of KBR

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KBR by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,790,454 shares of the construction company's stock worth $740,951,000 after acquiring an additional 68,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of KBR by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,016,324 shares of the construction company's stock worth $262,185,000 after purchasing an additional 29,833 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in KBR by 12,326.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,242,416 shares of the construction company's stock worth $188,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,323 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in KBR by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,868,418 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $166,167,000 after purchasing an additional 451,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in KBR by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,805,163 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $162,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,033 shares in the last quarter. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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KBR Price Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $55.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

KBR Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from KBR's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. KBR's payout ratio is currently 23.57%.

About KBR

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.