KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.25 Per Share

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the construction company on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This is an increase from KB Home’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

KB Home has raised its dividend by an average of 18.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. KB Home has a payout ratio of 9.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect KB Home to earn $8.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.2%.

KB Home Stock Performance

Shares of KB Home stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.03. 1,713,756 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,170,181. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.42. KB Home has a 52-week low of $40.97 and a 52-week high of $72.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.73.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The construction company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.19. KB Home had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. KB Home’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KBH shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on KB Home from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KB Home from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on KB Home from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on KB Home from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.11.

Insider Activity at KB Home

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 4,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.86, for a total transaction of $294,990.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,297,785.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 4,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.86, for a total value of $294,990.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,297,785.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William R. Hollinger sold 45,471 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.47, for a total transaction of $2,749,631.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 109,981 shares in the company, valued at $6,650,551.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 412,021 shares of company stock valued at $24,954,977 over the last three months. 4.44% of the stock is owned by 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. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 125.5% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,077,861 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,233 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KB Home during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,141,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in KB Home by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,592 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,655,000 after purchasing an additional 684,199 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of KB Home by 1,871.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 615,588 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,734,000 after purchasing an additional 584,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 6,353.6% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 487,092 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,188,000 after acquiring an additional 494,881 shares during the period. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.