Cove Street Capital LLC Lowers Stake in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)

Cove Street Capital LLC cut its stake in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,692 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,909 shares during the quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC’s holdings in KBR were worth $677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in KBR in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of KBR by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of KBR during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in KBR during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in KBR by 507.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KBR. Citigroup decreased their price objective on KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KBR currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.88.

KBR Stock Performance

Shares of KBR stock opened at $50.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.86. KBR, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.16 and a 52-week high of $72.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.18. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. KBR had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 4.35%. On average, equities analysts expect that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This is a boost from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. KBR’s payout ratio is presently 23.57%.

Insider Transactions at KBR

In other news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $961,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,214,134.47. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

KBR Profile

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.