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

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. 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 changing hands.

The construction company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 16.46%. KB Home’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KBH shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of KB Home from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of KB Home from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of KB Home from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,708.21. This represents a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of KB Home by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in KB Home by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 275.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 880 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of KB Home in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Trading Down 3.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.95. The company has a current ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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.