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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 29.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,666 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 87,277 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of KB Home worth $17,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of KB Home by 24.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 196,229 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,816,000 after buying an additional 38,638 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in KB Home by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 906,236 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $77,655,000 after acquiring an additional 164,010 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of KB Home during the 3rd quarter worth $956,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 24.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,742 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in KB Home in the second quarter valued at $479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE KBH opened at $66.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.33. KB Home has a fifty-two week low of $58.05 and a fifty-two week high of $89.70.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 15.69%. KB Home’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. KB Home’s payout ratio is 12.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KBH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on KB Home from $92.50 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KB Home from $83.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of KB Home from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on KB Home from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut KB Home from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KB Home has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KB Home news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,156.20. The trade was a 44.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

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.