KB Home Opens Next Phase Of Mountain Vail Reserves In Tucson

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) announced the opening of the next phase of its Mountain Vail Reserves community in Tucson, AZ.

The community’s location is easy to access by major transportation routes. It is also in close proximity to commercial and employment hubs and numerous shopping, dining entertainment centers.

All houses in Mountain Vail Reserves will be designed in an energy and water efficient manner since KB Home uses ENERGY STAR certification and WaterSense-labeled faucets and water fixtures. These features help owners reduce their monthly utility bills. Moreover, buyers can customize their homes at the KB Home Design Studio.

KB Home has been focusing on several strategic initiatives over the last few years to drive profits. One of its primary targets has been to increase community count.

The company regularly opens communities in highly favorable submarkets to drive growth. KB Home’s recently-opened communities include Prospect Fields in San Diego County, Edgebrook community in Bulverde, Sunrise Villas in Round Rock, and Legend Point–The Reserves in New Braunfels.

However, at the end of the last reported first-quarter 2017, average community count was 238, down 2.5% year over year. The company anticipates second-quarter and fiscal 2017 average community count to be flat year over year. Nonetheless, these new communities are expected to drive community count considerably.

The company actively invests in land acquisition and development, mainly in high-end locations, which is critical for community count as well as top-line growth. KB Home had put in $1.4 billion in land and development in fiscal 2016. It has already acquired land required for fiscal 2017, which is expected to generate a steady source of income in the days ahead. In the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the company invested $302 million in land, land development, and fees, with $133 million representing new land acquisitions.

Investors should note that KB Home’s shares have gained 37.1% year to date, outperforming the Zacks categorized Building-Residential/Commercial industry’s 27.3%. A healthy housing industry and strong demand trends in the markets served by KB Home should drive the stock’s performance in the upcoming quarters as well.

Moreover, the company has an impressive earnings history, beating estimates in all of the past four quarters at an average of 7.3%. Earnings estimates, for this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, moved up for the current year over the last 60 days.

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks in the broader construction sector include Lyon William Homes (NYSE:WLH) , M/I Homes, Inc. (NYSE:MHO) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) .

M/I Homes sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is likely to witness a 36.2% rise in earnings. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Lyon William, a Zacks Rank #2 stock, is expected to exhibit 38.4% growth in 2017 earnings.

Lennar, also a Zacks Rank #2 stock, is expected to witness 7.5% growth in fiscal 2017 earnings.

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