Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on KB Home (NYSE:KBH)

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 2,522 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical volume of 1,961 put options.

KB Home Stock Performance

KBH stock opened at $58.56 on Wednesday. KB Home has a twelve month low of $56.41 and a twelve month high of $89.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. KB Home’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KBH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $74.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of KB Home in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on KB Home from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on KB Home from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised KB Home from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KB Home currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home

In other news, CFO Jeff Kaminski sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,891,175.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in KB Home by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 540 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of KB Home by 275.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 880 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in KB Home in the third quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.09% of the company’s stock.

KB Home Company Profile

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.