Norges Bank Buys New Shares in KB Home $KBH

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 858,316 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,418,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.36% of KB Home as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in KB Home by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,054,280 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,472,000 after buying an additional 122,457 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,965,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of KB Home by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 77,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,962,000 after acquiring an additional 28,948 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in KB Home in the third quarter valued at about $1,451,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in KB Home in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,232,000. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KB Home Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KB Home stock opened at $52.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.81. KB Home has a 1-year low of $44.03 and a 1-year high of $68.71.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The construction company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 9.63%. KB Home’s quarterly revenue was down 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KB Home will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. KB Home’s payout ratio is presently 25.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on KBH shares. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of KB Home in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on KB Home from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on KB Home from $71.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on KB Home from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.17.

About KB Home

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.