Short Interest in KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) Increases By 27.6%

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,070,000 shares, an increase of 27.6% from the March 31st total of 15,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

KE Price Performance

Shares of KE stock opened at $15.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.54. KE has a 52-week low of $12.44 and a 52-week high of $19.95. The firm has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of -0.73.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. KE had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 9.19%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KE will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

KE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a dividend of $0.351 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. KE’s dividend payout ratio is 44.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEKE. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in KE by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KE by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its position in KE by 0.5% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 392,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in KE by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its holdings in KE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 12,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,585 shares during the period. 39.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BEKE shares. HSBC dropped their price target on KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.10 target price on shares of KE in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th.

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.