KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) Short Interest Up 25.1% in June

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,590,000 shares, a growth of 25.1% from the May 31st total of 25,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

KE Price Performance

Shares of KE stock opened at $14.77 on Tuesday. KE has a one year low of $12.44 and a one year high of $20.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of -0.72.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. KE had a net margin of 4.80% and a return on equity of 6.04%. Sell-side analysts expect that KE will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BEKE. Barclays boosted their target price on KE from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.10 price target on shares of KE in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in KE during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,393,000. Artal Group S.A. raised its holdings in shares of KE by 10.0% during the first quarter. Artal Group S.A. now owns 275,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in KE by 14.8% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 247,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,396,000 after acquiring an additional 31,928 shares during the period. Sylebra Capital LLC lifted its stake in KE by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 1,507,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,697,000 after acquiring an additional 11,962 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in KE by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,363,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,736,152 shares during the period. 39.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.