KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

KB Home (NYSE:KBH)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $61.79, but opened at $56.59. KB Home shares last traded at $57.88, with a volume of 1,193,732 shares.

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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home’s payout ratio is 11.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KBH. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of KB Home from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KB Home has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.46.

Insider Activity at KB Home

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KB Home

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KB Home by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,868 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of KB Home by 101,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 20,528 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KB Home by 22.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 906,236 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,655,000 after buying an additional 164,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of KB Home by 62.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 107,051 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,173,000 after purchasing an additional 40,992 shares during the period. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KB Home Trading Down 3.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.17 and its 200 day moving average is $72.95.

About KB Home

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.