D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Position in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 845,299 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,059,124 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KBR were worth $48,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KBR. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in KBR by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KBR in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of KBR in the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in KBR by 507.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in KBR in the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. Institutional investors own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KBR shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of KBR from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KBR from $77.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on KBR from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KBR currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $961,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,214,134.47. The trade was 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.

KBR Price Performance

Shares of KBR stock opened at $55.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. KBR, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.89 and a 52 week high of $72.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The construction company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. KBR had a net margin of 4.35% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. KBR’s dividend payout ratio is 23.57%.

KBR 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.