Empowered Funds LLC Increases Position in KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 201.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 216,645 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,854 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in KB Home were worth $18,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in KB Home in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in KB Home during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 72.0% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,080 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 625.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in KB Home by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KBH shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of KB Home from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on KB Home from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of KB Home from $78.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KB Home from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded KB Home from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total transaction 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 $2,737,156.20. This trade represents a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KB Home Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KBH opened at $78.18 on Friday. KB Home has a 52-week low of $51.53 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.01. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.81.

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

KB Home Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.82%.

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.