KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Short Interest Down 13.5% in January

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a decrease of 13.5% from the January 15th total of 4,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,370,708.21. The trade was a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KB Home

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 214,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,092,000 after buying an additional 6,317 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management boosted its holdings in KB Home by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 5,097 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in KB Home during the 4th quarter valued at $19,526,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in KB Home in the 4th quarter worth $656,000. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 9,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Trading Up 1.2 %

KB Home stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $64.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,034,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,209. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.50. 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 12 month low of $60.26 and a 12 month high of $89.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.86.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that KB Home will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. KB Home’s payout ratio is currently 11.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KBH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised KB Home from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on KB Home from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KB Home from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of KB Home from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.21.

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.