KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE – Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 27,640,000 shares, a decline of 15.4% from the May 15th total of 32,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.
A number of research firms have issued reports on BEKE. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of KE from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of KE from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of KE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of KE from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $13.50 in a research note on Monday, May 16th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised shares of KE from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.40.
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinebridge Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of KE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KE by 261.5% during the 3rd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. ETF Managers Group LLC bought a new position in KE during the fourth quarter worth $118,000. Finally, QCM Cayman Ltd. bought a new position in KE during the first quarter worth $132,000. 35.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
BEKE traded up $0.99 on Friday, reaching $15.88. 1,057,866 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,437,914. The company’s 50 day moving average is $13.31 and its 200-day moving average is $16.45. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.14 and a beta of -1.54. KE has a twelve month low of $7.31 and a twelve month high of $52.55.
KE (NYSE:BEKE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 31st. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.11. KE had a negative net margin of 3.05% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $12.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. KE’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KE will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
About KE (Get Rating)
KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People’s Republic of China. The company operates in three segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, and Emerging and Other Services.
