KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research lowered shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on KBH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on KB Home from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of KB Home from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of KB Home from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI set a $65.00 price target on shares of KB Home and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of KB Home from $59.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KB Home presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.09.

KB Home Stock Up 1.7%

KBH opened at $57.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.40. KB Home has a twelve month low of $48.90 and a twelve month high of $72.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.16.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The construction company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 6.88%.KB Home’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KB Home news, EVP Albert Z. Praw sold 20,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.08, for a total value of $1,218,662.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 104,062 shares in the company, valued at $6,252,044.96. The trade was a 16.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in KB Home in the first quarter worth approximately $209,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of KB Home in the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KB Home by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 50,584 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KB Home during the 1st quarter worth $3,353,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 1st quarter worth about $983,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Company Profile

KB Home is an American homebuilding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1957, it was among the first homebuilders to go public, offering investors access to one of the nation’s largest residential construction platforms. The company is structured to serve a broad spectrum of homebuyers, with a particular focus on first-time, first move-up and active adult segments. As a public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KBH, KB Home draws on decades of experience in land acquisition, construction and community planning.

At its core, KB Home designs and constructs single-family detached and attached homes, townhomes and condominium units.