KB Home Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:KBH)

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 2,522 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,961 put options.

KB Home Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KBH opened at $59.14 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.71. KB Home has a 52 week low of $56.41 and a 52 week high of $89.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 5.51. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The construction company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 16.46%. KB Home’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.81%.

Insider Activity at KB Home

In other news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,370,708.21. This represents a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in KB Home by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 275.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of KB Home by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 880 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in KB Home in the third quarter worth $59,000. 96.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KBH shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of KB Home from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on KB Home from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on KB Home from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on KB Home from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.21.

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.