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

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on KBH. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of KB Home in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of KB Home in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on KB Home from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of KB Home in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut KB Home from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KB Home has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.92.

KB Home Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KBH opened at $47.08 on Thursday. KB Home has a 12-month low of $44.03 and a 12-month high of $67.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.66.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 23rd. The construction company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). KB Home had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 4.94%.The business had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that KB Home will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In other news, EVP Albert Z. Praw sold 22,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.70, for a total transaction of $1,292,280.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,062 shares in the company, valued at $6,108,439.40. This trade represents a 17.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Collins sold 4,000 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.96, for a total value of $227,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,582.72. This represents a 30.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in KB Home in the 2nd quarter valued at about $618,489,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KB Home during the 2nd quarter worth about $108,652,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KB Home during the 4th quarter worth about $48,418,000. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the second quarter worth approximately $37,500,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the second quarter worth approximately $35,837,000. 96.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KB Home

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is a homebuilding company that designs, constructs and sells residential properties in the United States. Its offerings primarily include single-family homes, with communities and floor plans intended for first-time buyers, move-up buyers and other owner-occupants. The company also provides homebuyers with opportunities to personalize selected features and finishes through its build-to-order approach.

The company operates in several major housing markets across the United States, including locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.