HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 11,429 Shares of KB Financial Group Inc $KB

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in KB Financial Group Inc by 69.7%, now owning only 4,972 shares worth $269,000 after selling 11,429 shares in the first quarter.
• Other investors, including Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC and Tower Research Capital LLC, significantly increased their stakes in KB Financial Group, indicating varied investor confidence.
• KB Financial Group's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $3.16, slightly beating estimates, along with an announced quarterly dividend of $0.657, yielding 3.4% annually.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in KB Financial Group Inc (NYSE:KB - Free Report) by 69.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,972 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,429 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in KB Financial Group were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KB. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of KB Financial Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,759 shares of the bank's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in KB Financial Group by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 8,024 shares of the bank's stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in KB Financial Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,442 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in KB Financial Group by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,161 shares of the bank's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in KB Financial Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,116 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.52% of the company's stock.

KB Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KB traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.20. The company had a trading volume of 86,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,749. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $29.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.51, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50 day moving average price is $81.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.84. KB Financial Group Inc has a 52 week low of $46.38 and a 52 week high of $92.39.

KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The bank reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. KB Financial Group had a net margin of 16.16% and a return on equity of 9.79%. Analysts expect that KB Financial Group Inc will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current year.

KB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.657 dividend. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. KB Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of KB Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, KB Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Buy".

KB Financial Group Profile

KB Financial Group Inc provides a range of banking and related financial services to consumers and corporations in South Korea, the United States, New Zealand, China, Cambodia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and internationally. The company operates through Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Non-Life Insurance segments.