Short Interest in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Drops By 9.7%

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,770,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the March 15th total of 1,960,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of KBR in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of KBR from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of KBR from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of KBR from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of KBR from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $72.29.

KBR Price Performance

Shares of KBR traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,289. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. KBR has a 52-week low of $49.37 and a 52-week high of $65.87.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The construction company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.69. KBR had a negative net margin of 3.81% and a positive return on equity of 25.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that KBR will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. KBR’s payout ratio is -29.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jennifer Myles sold 8,000 shares of KBR stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.95, for a total value of $471,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,270,989.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of KBR by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,250,269 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $725,188,000 after acquiring an additional 39,673 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in KBR by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,472,312 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $216,415,000 after purchasing an additional 64,012 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in KBR by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,084,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $170,915,000 after purchasing an additional 331,749 shares during the period. Snyder Capital Management L P boosted its stake in KBR by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 3,073,508 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $169,197,000 after purchasing an additional 73,594 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in KBR by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,633,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $145,941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,635 shares during the period. 97.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.