KBR (NYSE:KBR) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of KBR (NYSE:KBR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen downgraded KBR from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of KBR in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $75.50.

KBR Stock Performance

NYSE:KBR opened at $64.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of -33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.90. KBR has a fifty-two week low of $49.37 and a fifty-two week high of $69.50.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. KBR had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 2.77%. Analysts expect that KBR will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBR Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. KBR’s payout ratio is -31.25%.

Insider Activity at KBR

In other news, insider Jalal Ibrahim sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,550 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,968. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KBR

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of KBR by 359.9% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,467,650 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $93,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,503 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in KBR in the second quarter valued at $47,274,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in KBR by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,286,779 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $146,674,000 after acquiring an additional 520,207 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP grew its holdings in KBR by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP now owns 1,877,497 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $120,423,000 after acquiring an additional 507,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freshford Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KBR by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC now owns 966,610 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,560,000 after purchasing an additional 344,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

KBR Company Profile

KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.