KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Short Interest Down 18.7% in March

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,000,000 shares, a decrease of 18.7% from the March 15th total of 3,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on KBR from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on KBR from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KBR presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.13.

KBR Stock Up 0.3 %

KBR traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.47. 516,105 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,307,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. KBR has a fifty-two week low of $43.89 and a fifty-two week high of $72.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.57. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.73.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. KBR had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 4.35%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KBR will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. KBR’s payout ratio is presently 23.57%.

Insider Activity at KBR

In other KBR news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $961,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 63,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,214,134.47. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KBR

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of KBR by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems grew its holdings in KBR by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 7,200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A raised its position in shares of KBR by 5.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,767 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of KBR by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of KBR by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KBR

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.