KBR (NYSE:KBR) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The company traded as low as $37.01 and last traded at $36.9880, with a volume of 387157 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.66.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on KBR. Oppenheimer started coverage on KBR in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of KBR from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded KBR from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on KBR from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on KBR in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Institutional Trading of KBR

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KBR. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of KBR by 11.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,779 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,073,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in KBR by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 627,321 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,247,000 after buying an additional 211,311 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of KBR during the 1st quarter worth about $349,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of KBR by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 395,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,704,000 after acquiring an additional 23,738 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KBR by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,859 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

KBR Stock Down 0.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.69.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The construction company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. KBR had a return on equity of 35.22% and a net margin of 5.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. KBR has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.870-4.220 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. KBR’s payout ratio is currently 20.56%.

About KBR

KBR, Inc is a global engineering, procurement, construction and services (EPC&S) company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm delivers integrated solutions and technologies across the full project lifecycle for customers in the energy, government, industrial and infrastructure sectors. Its offerings span feasibility studies, front-end engineering design, detailed design, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning and operations support.

The company is organized into business segments that include Energy Solutions, which focuses on oil and gas processing, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and petrochemical plants; Government Solutions, providing logistics, sustainment, training and mission support for defense, intelligence and civilian agencies; and Sustainable Technology, delivering chemical process technologies, water treatment and lower-carbon fuels expertise.