StockNews.com Upgrades KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) to “Sell”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on KKR. Argus raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $123.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $144.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.27.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:KKR opened at $132.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $117.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.62. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.72 and a 12-month high of $134.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.39.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 5.05% and a net margin of 17.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 15.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. acquired 11,619,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.13 per share, for a total transaction of $129,330,577.74. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 92,959,984 shares in the company, valued at $1,034,644,621.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other KKR & Co. Inc. news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. bought 11,619,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.13 per share, with a total value of $129,330,577.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,959,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,644,621.92. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 5,800,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.75, for a total value of $149,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,260,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,470,003.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KKR. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 219.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,206,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,342,742,000 after buying an additional 11,134,363 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $217,004,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 198.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,207,368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $337,543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,670,039 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,452,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,782 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments.