KE (NYSE:BEKE) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.51 EPS

KE (NYSE:BEKE) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.51, Briefing.com reports. KE had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 5.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share.

KE Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BEKE stock opened at $16.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.95 and a current ratio of 3.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.55 and its 200-day moving average is $16.89. The stock has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of -0.35. KE has a 52-week low of $14.40 and a 52-week high of $20.98.

KE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were issued a $0.276 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 176.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 8th. KE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of KE by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,112,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,130,000 after purchasing an additional 521,313 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of KE by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,067,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,775 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KE by 197.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,421,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,207 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in KE by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,789,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 240,371 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in KE by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,664,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,227,000 after acquiring an additional 152,522 shares during the period. 39.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BEKE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Griffin Securities set a $24.40 target price on shares of KE in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of KE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of KE from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of KE from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.07.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc (NYSE: BEKE) is a technology-driven real estate services company that operates an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and related services in mainland China. The company provides consumer-facing property listing marketplaces alongside a broad network of offline brokerage offices and agents, aiming to facilitate sales, rentals and new-home transactions for individual and institutional clients.

The company’s offerings span property listings for new and resale homes, rental listings, brokerage representation and transaction facilitation.