KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Holdings Boosted by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 47.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,248 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in KB Home were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in KB Home during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,638,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in KB Home during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,118,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in KB Home during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,288,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in KB Home by 4,083.5% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 146,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,623,000 after buying an additional 142,922 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in KB Home by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 727,809 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,832,000 after buying an additional 142,913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KB Home

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,891,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,708.21. This trade represents a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KBH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of KB Home in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of KB Home from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.21.

KB Home Stock Performance

Shares of KBH opened at $58.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 0.83. KB Home has a one year low of $56.41 and a one year high of $89.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.90.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 24th. The construction company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio is 12.20%.

KB Home 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.