Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 346 Shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 207,320 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in KB Home were worth $13,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of KB Home by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in KB Home by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 590 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of KB Home by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,465 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KB Home by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,891 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,619,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of KB Home by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 20,528 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,891,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,708.21. This represents a 44.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of KB Home from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on KB Home from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Seaport Res Ptn raised KB Home from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on KB Home from $85.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KB Home presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.21.

KB Home Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of KBH opened at $62.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.86. KB Home has a 12-month low of $59.89 and a 12-month high of $89.70. The company has a current ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.56.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 13th. The construction company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 16.46%. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that KB Home will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.81%.

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.