Vestcor Inc Makes New Investment in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)

Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,428 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KBR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in KBR by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,805,163 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $162,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,033 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in KBR in the 4th quarter worth $47,022,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in KBR by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,621,740 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,624,000 after acquiring an additional 353,209 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KBR by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,416,531 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,876,000 after purchasing an additional 305,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of KBR by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 882,086 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,099,000 after purchasing an additional 218,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

KBR Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:KBR opened at $50.94 on Wednesday. KBR, Inc. has a one year low of $47.16 and a one year high of $72.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.86.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. KBR had a net margin of 4.35% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, analysts forecast that KBR, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KBR Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from KBR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. KBR’s payout ratio is 23.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KBR news, insider Gregory Sean Conlon sold 19,000 shares of KBR stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $961,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,214,134.47. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KBR. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of KBR from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of KBR from $72.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of KBR from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of KBR from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of KBR in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KBR presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.88.

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.