Short Interest in KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Grows By 9.5%

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,310,000 shares, a growth of 9.5% from the October 31st total of 5,760,000 shares. Currently, 8.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days.

KB Home Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KBH traded down $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.74. 645,404 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,204,333. KB Home has a fifty-two week low of $53.54 and a fifty-two week high of $89.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.16. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.81.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.02). KB Home had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KB Home will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. KB Home’s payout ratio is 12.82%.

Insider Activity at KB Home

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $2,183,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,156.20. This trade represents a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in KB Home in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KB Home in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of KB Home during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in KB Home by 101,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KBH. Wedbush raised their target price on KB Home from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded KB Home from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of KB Home from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of KB Home from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of KB Home from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KB Home currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

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.