KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) Short Interest Update

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,070,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the March 31st total of 15,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

KE Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BEKE opened at $15.35 on Tuesday. KE has a 12-month low of $12.44 and a 12-month high of $19.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.75 and a 200-day moving average of $14.54. The stock has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of -0.73.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. KE had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Equities research analysts expect that KE will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

KE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.351 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.2%. KE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BEKE. HSBC cut their price objective on KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.10 price objective on shares of KE in a report on Tuesday, March 19th.

Institutional Trading of KE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in KE by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after acquiring an additional 13,151 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its position in shares of KE by 0.5% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 392,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in KE by 15.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 24,300 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in KE by 10.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,383,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,479,000 after purchasing an additional 130,433 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new stake in KE during the third quarter worth about $242,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.