KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) Rating Increased to Buy at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $144.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock.

KKR has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $169.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. TD Cowen lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $146.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KKR & Co. Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.57.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock opened at $116.72 on Wednesday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.15 and a 1 year high of $170.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.11. The company has a market cap of $104.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.46, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The asset manager reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 6.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KKR. Covenant Asset Management LLC raised its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1,424.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 29,826 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,876,000 after buying an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 132.5% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 37,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,270 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank bought a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,115,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 277,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,960 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,145,391 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $152,371,000 after purchasing an additional 62,566 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.