KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Shares Bought by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR - Free Report) by 174.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,392 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,964 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in KBR were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KBR. Utah Retirement Systems grew its stake in KBR by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 7,200 shares of the construction company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of KBR by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,767 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of KBR by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,703 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in KBR by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in KBR by 0.8% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,300 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 97.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KBR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of KBR from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on KBR from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on KBR from $77.00 to $69.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lowered KBR from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of KBR from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KBR presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.75.

Insider Transactions at KBR

In other news, CEO Stuart Bradie sold 20,000 shares of KBR stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.81, for a total value of $1,056,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 802,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,372,684.41. This trade represents a 2.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KBR Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:KBR traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $49.63. 2,293,277 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,558,526. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.10. KBR, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.89 and a 1 year high of $72.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.76.

KBR (NYSE:KBR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The construction company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. KBR had a return on equity of 33.65% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. KBR's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

KBR Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. KBR's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.91%.

About KBR

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.