Short Interest in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) Increases By 50.8%

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 50.8% from the April 15th total of 1,810,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer Myles sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.95, for a total value of $471,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,524 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,989.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KBR

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KBR by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,044,986 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 52,679 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in KBR by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,084,559 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $170,915,000 after acquiring an additional 331,749 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in KBR by 3.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,799,197 shares of the construction company's stock worth $106,045,000 after acquiring an additional 56,426 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of KBR by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,526,058 shares of the construction company's stock worth $84,559,000 after purchasing an additional 99,196 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KBR during the 4th quarter worth about $77,193,000. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KBR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of KBR from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on KBR from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KBR from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded KBR from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of KBR from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, KBR presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

KBR Price Performance

Shares of KBR traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.50. 834,576 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,294,551. KBR has a 52-week low of $49.37 and a 52-week high of $68.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.35. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.64, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

KBR (NYSE:KBR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. KBR had a positive return on equity of 26.14% and a negative net margin of 3.65%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KBR will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from KBR's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. KBR's dividend payout ratio is presently -31.25%.

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.

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