KBR (NYSE:KBR) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of KBR (NYSE:KBR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of KBR in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. TD Cowen lowered shares of KBR from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KBR presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $75.50.

KBR Stock Performance

NYSE:KBR opened at $65.13 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.62. KBR has a 1-year low of $49.37 and a 1-year high of $69.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.90.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. KBR had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 27.92%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KBR will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

KBR Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. KBR’s dividend payout ratio is currently -31.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jalal Ibrahim sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total transaction of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 106,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,091,968. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KBR

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RK Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in KBR by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. RK Capital Management LLC now owns 258,127 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,303,000 after acquiring an additional 70,327 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of KBR by 341.8% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 51,347 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 39,726 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KBR by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,044,986 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 52,679 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of KBR by 1,030.1% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 74,200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 67,634 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of KBR during the first quarter valued at $868,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

About KBR

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.