KBR (NYSE:KBR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KBR (NYSE:KBR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday.

KBR has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on KBR from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of KBR in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of KBR in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of KBR from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of KBR in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KBR currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.40.

KBR Stock Up 1.6%

KBR stock opened at $44.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. KBR has a 1-year low of $39.52 and a 1-year high of $60.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.07. KBR had a return on equity of 35.14% and a net margin of 4.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that KBR will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

KBR Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. KBR’s payout ratio is currently 22.68%.

Institutional Trading of KBR

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in KBR by 207.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in KBR by 432.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in KBR by 75.8% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 617 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of KBR in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KBR during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

KBR Company Profile

KBR, Inc is a global engineering, procurement, construction and services (EPC&S) company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm delivers integrated solutions and technologies across the full project lifecycle for customers in the energy, government, industrial and infrastructure sectors. Its offerings span feasibility studies, front-end engineering design, detailed design, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning and operations support.

The company is organized into business segments that include Energy Solutions, which focuses on oil and gas processing, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and petrochemical plants; Government Solutions, providing logistics, sustainment, training and mission support for defense, intelligence and civilian agencies; and Sustainable Technology, delivering chemical process technologies, water treatment and lower-carbon fuels expertise.