Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 13,837 Shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in KB Home (NYSE:KBH - Free Report) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,954 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 13,837 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.08% of KB Home worth $3,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in KB Home by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 196,229 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,816,000 after purchasing an additional 38,638 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in KB Home by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 906,236 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $77,655,000 after acquiring an additional 164,010 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in KB Home during the 3rd quarter valued at $956,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in KB Home by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,727 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in KB Home by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,742 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,320,000 after buying an additional 7,679 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company's stock.

KB Home Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE KBH traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.30. 261,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,457,841. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 0.89 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 quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.08. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. KB Home's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,370,708.21. The trade was a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on KBH. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of KB Home from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of KB Home from an "underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, KB Home presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.21.

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.