KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Short Interest Update

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,690,000 shares, a growth of 51.2% from the February 28th total of 2,440,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KBR shares. Citigroup cut their price objective 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 cut their price target on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.88.

KBR Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of KBR stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.78. 366,573 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,273,585. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.09. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KBR has a 12 month low of $47.16 and a 12 month high of $72.60.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.08. KBR had a net margin of 4.35% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that KBR will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. KBR’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KBR

In related news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $961,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,214,134.47. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KBR by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,790,454 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $740,951,000 after acquiring an additional 68,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in KBR by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,016,324 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $262,185,000 after purchasing an additional 29,833 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in KBR by 12,326.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,242,416 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,323 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in KBR by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,868,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $166,167,000 after buying an additional 451,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of KBR by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,805,163 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $162,503,000 after buying an additional 1,307,033 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.