Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 14,561 Shares of KB Home $KBH

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,033 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,561 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in KB Home were worth $1,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBH. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of KB Home by 7.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,784,398 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $94,530,000 after acquiring an additional 123,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in KB Home by 116.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 942,479 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,957,000 after purchasing an additional 506,415 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in KB Home by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 766,974 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,308 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in KB Home by 0.4% during the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 492,440 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,621,000 after buying an additional 2,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KB Home by 326.7% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 456,200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,514,000 after buying an additional 349,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Stock Performance

KBH opened at $63.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.00 and a 200 day moving average of $59.21. KB Home has a fifty-two week low of $48.90 and a fifty-two week high of $80.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.40.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 24th. The construction company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.11. KB Home had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. KB Home’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. KB Home’s payout ratio is 13.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KBH has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of KB Home in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on KB Home from $63.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KB Home from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of KB Home in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on KB Home from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

Insider Activity

In other KB Home news, EVP Albert Z. Praw sold 20,284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.08, for a total transaction of $1,218,662.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,062 shares in the company, valued at $6,252,044.96. This represents a 16.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.