Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 207,666 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 87,277 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in KB Home were worth $17,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new stake in KB Home during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in KB Home by 72.0% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,080 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 625.3% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of KB Home by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total transaction of $2,183,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,737,156.20. The trade was a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KB Home Price Performance

NYSE KBH opened at $78.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.81. KB Home has a 1-year low of $51.53 and a 1-year high of $89.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.01.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KBH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KB Home from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on KB Home from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of KB Home from $78.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of KB Home from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of KB Home from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

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.