KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) Stock Rated “Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.64.

A number of analysts have commented on BEKE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Friday, August 21st. CLSA initiated coverage on KE in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $23.80 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded KE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research raised KE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th.

KE Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE BEKE opened at $17.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of -0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.84. KE has a 52-week low of $13.81 and a 52-week high of $19.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 21st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. KE had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 7.62%. Equities research analysts expect that KE will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KE news, CEO Yongdong Peng sold 16,033,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.27, for a total transaction of $84,499,090.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,824,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $331,083,802.77. This represents a 20.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yigang Shan sold 3,326,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total value of $18,097,084.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,868,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,042,948.16. This trade represents a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of KE by 3.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 155,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,784 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of KE by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 630,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,627,000 after buying an additional 227,616 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of KE during the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KE during the 2nd quarter worth $261,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KE by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,942,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,345,000 after buying an additional 324,707 shares during the last quarter. 39.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, also known as Beike, operates a technology-driven housing-services platform in China. The company connects consumers, housing agents, property developers and other service providers through online and offline channels.

Its business includes brokerage services for existing-home and new-home transactions, residential rentals, and related housing services. KE Holdings also provides home renovation and furnishing services, property management, and other services designed to support consumers throughout the residential real estate lifecycle.

The company’s platform supports a network of agents and stores and uses data, digital tools and standardized operating processes to facilitate property searches, transactions and related services.