KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $64.08, but opened at $71.63. KB Home shares last traded at $67.80, with a volume of 1,366,372 shares traded.

The construction company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.08. KB Home had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. KB Home’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KBH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price target on KB Home from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on KB Home from $74.00 to $65.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on KB Home from $80.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush upped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KB Home

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in KB Home during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of KB Home in the third quarter worth $43,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of KB Home in the third quarter worth $59,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of KB Home in the third quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of KB Home by 275.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.32 and a 200 day moving average of $77.92.

About KB Home

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.