Short Interest in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Increases By 19.0%

by · The Cerbat Gem

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the February 13th total of 2,050,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $961,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,214,134.47. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KBR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in KBR by 49.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its position in KBR by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 7,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in KBR by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in KBR by 1.5% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 19,700 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in KBR by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,764 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KBR Stock Performance

KBR stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.32. 1,251,046 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,240,061. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.86. KBR has a fifty-two week low of $47.16 and a fifty-two week high of $72.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

KBR (NYSE:KBR – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. KBR had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 4.35%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KBR will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. KBR’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KBR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of KBR in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.88.

Read Our Latest Research Report on KBR

About KBR

(Get Free Report)

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.

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