KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.88.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price target on KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of KBR in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Institutional Trading of KBR

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KBR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of KBR by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,790,454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $740,951,000 after purchasing an additional 68,588 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in KBR by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,016,324 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $262,185,000 after buying an additional 29,833 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of KBR by 12,326.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,242,416 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $188,098,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,323 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KBR by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,868,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $166,167,000 after acquiring an additional 451,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of KBR by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,805,163 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $162,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

KBR Price Performance

Shares of KBR opened at $48.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.51. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $47.16 and a fifty-two week high of $72.60.

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

KBR Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. KBR’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.57%.

KBR Company Profile

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.