May 10, 2023 – Russell Investments Group Ltd. recently sold off a portion of its holdings in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR), a leading construction company. The investment group sold 19,684 shares, or 4.8% of its total holdings in the fourth quarter of last year, bringing their total ownership of KBR to 387,627 shares. This equated to a total value of $20,465,000 at the time the filing was made with the SEC.
Despite this sell-off, KBR has continued to perform well and exceed market expectations. In fact, the company recently reported impressive first quarter earnings data on May 1st. During that quarter, KBR generated $0.67 earnings per share, outperforming analysts’ predictions by $0.09 per share.
The company’s total revenue during that period was $1.70 billion dollars which exceeded analysts’ expected sales of $1.61 billion dollars; this represented a .6% decline from the previous year’s revenues during the same period.
However, despite such recent success analysts have been increasing their estimated price targets for KBR in anticipation of continued growth in both earnings and sales numbers; not to mention future infrastructure projects that will require buildings in all types of sectors such as commercial real estate spaces.
Recent reports indicate that DA Davidson increased their target price for KBR from $60 to $70 while Citigroup raised their price target on shares of KBR from $60 to $67 and gave the company an upgraded “buy” rating As well as Cowen lifting their target price on KBR from $56 to $63 giving it an “outperform” rating. These positive reviews bring up more valuable insight into what may become profitable bet for any investor seeking long-term gains.
Currently six investment analysts have rated the stock as “Buy,” According to data from Bloomberg and they project an average consensus target price of $66.33 in the medium-term.
In conclusion, despite Russell Investments Group Ltd’s reduction in holding, KBR’s strong earnings reports and increased price targets by numerous investment analysts have added fuel to the fire of continued investor interest. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, such an optimistic prognosis may push investors to take a closer look at this company for their portfolio’s growth potential. Whether it be innovative new infrastructure projects or contract wins abroad, it seems highly likely that KBR will continue to navigate its long-term trajectory towards steady growth.
Institutional Investors Show Interest in KBR Inc. as it Sees Positive Performance Prospects
KBR, Inc., a construction company with a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, has recently attracted a number of institutional investors who have bought and sold shares in the business. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in KBR during the third quarter at the cost of $36,000 while WFA of San Diego LLC and Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired new positions in the fourth quarter at approximately $53,000 each. In the third quarter, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC also bought a new stake valued at approximately $78,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc., on the other hand, boosted its holdings in KBR by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, and now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during this period.
KBR opened at $58.33 on Tuesday with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83 and quick and current ratios both standing at 0.99. The P/E ratio is currently at 25.58 with a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and beta at 1.14 while its 50-day simple moving average is $55.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.62. It has a fifty-two-week low of $41.96 and a fifty-two-week high of $59.99.
Several equities analysts have shared their views on KBR recently, with DA Davidson increasing their price objective from $60 to $70 following positive research data obtained on February 21st while Cowen raised their target price from $56 to $63 based on performance prospects.Furthermore, Citigroup upgraded their rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ while Daat Research Corporation advanced their position from hold to buy among others.
KBR also announced an increase in quarterly dividend which was paid on April 14th. Following completion and release of initial records on Wednesday March 15th, $0.135 dividend was issued with an ex-dividend date slated as Tuesday, March 14th; this is seen as a positive move in comparison to KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. A $0.54 dividend per share payout represents relative annual earnings and a dividend yield increase of 0.93%. It has also been revealed in recent SEC filings that Director Lester Lyles sold over 17,000 shares valued at approximately $931,770 and Executive Vice President Jennifer Myles dumped shares totaling over $256,865 while Director Lester Lyles sold another batch of same stock shares in March with a total transaction value of for $931,770.
In conclusion, these recent developments provide insight into the trend surrounding institutional investment interest in KBR Inc., as well as the company’s positive performance prospects. With increased ratings by respected analysts along with considered management decisions and notable investors’ impact on its equity price increase in Q1-2023, it is unarguable that the company’s future would look bright if such trajectory is maintained throughout the year.
