Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Raises Position in KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its stake in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 47.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,248 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,965 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in KB Home were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 1,409.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KB Home in the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KB Home in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,638,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,484,000. Finally, Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its stake in KB Home by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 30,300 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of KB Home from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on KB Home from $81.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.21.

Insider Activity at KB Home

In other news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,370,708.21. This trade represents a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.89% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Stock Performance

Shares of KBH opened at $58.97 on Thursday. KB Home has a 52-week low of $56.41 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 24th. The construction company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for 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 was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.20%.

KB Home Profile

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.