KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) Short Interest Update

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,890,000 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 7,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KKR has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. JMP Securities upped their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $154.00 to $148.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KKR & Co. Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.43.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

KKR stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.06. 1,251,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,127,508. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.07. The firm has a market cap of $94.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.95 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $986.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $989.14 million. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 19.38% and a return on equity of 4.52%. On average, analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is 15.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $218,400,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,133,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $413,501,375.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $218,400,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,133,123 shares in the company, valued at $413,501,375.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Kkr Alternative Assets Llc bought 1,956,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.56 per share, with a total value of $50,000,011.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,688,618 shares in the company, valued at $247,641,076.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KKR. Capital International Investors raised its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 42,808,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,546,708,000 after acquiring an additional 805,122 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,670,039 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,452,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,782 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,644,897 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,674,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,784 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 219.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,206,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,342,742,000 after buying an additional 11,134,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,203,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $845,324,000 after buying an additional 365,449 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co Inc is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments.