We recently published a list of Louis Navellier’s 10 New Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) stands against other Louis Navellier’s new stock picks.
Navellier & Associates is an independent money management firm founded in 1987 by renowned growth analyst Louis Navellier. Based in Reno, Nevada, the firm has more than thirty years of experience serving both individual and institutional clients through a disciplined, style-consistent investment approach. The firm’s mission is to maximize returns while managing excessive risk, offering customized portfolio strategies that incorporate a proprietary blend of quantitative and fundamental analysis. Navellier’s investment philosophy centers around identifying and exploiting inefficiencies in the market to uncover high-potential growth stocks. Unlike market indexes and firms that mimic market indexes, Navellier & Associates focuses on outperforming them, resulting in portfolios with low correlation to benchmarks, increased diversification, and reduced risk.
At the heart of Navellier’s investment process is a rigorous three-step, bottom-up stock selection methodology. The first step involves applying a proprietary quantitative screening process to evaluate market and individual stock statistics, specifically measuring reward through alpha and risk through standard deviation. This process narrows the investment options to stocks that rank in the upper percentiles for their risk/reward metrics. In the second step, fundamental analysis is used to identify stocks with exceptional profit margins, robust earnings growth, and forward-looking, reasonable price-to-earnings ratios. Finally, a proprietary optimization model allocates stocks within the portfolio to maximize alpha while minimizing volatility, ensuring that each portfolio is well-diversified across multiple sectors and industries. These strategies are particularly well-suited for long-term investors seeking steady returns in both bull and bear markets.
Louis Navellier himself brings over three decades of expertise to the firm. Since 1980, he has published quantitative research on growth stocks and remains a leading voice in the investment community. As the Founder, Chairman, Chief Investment Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of Navellier & Associates, he continues to oversee the same portfolios he helped launch. His investment insights have earned him frequent appearances on CNBC, Fox Business News, and regular quotes in leading financial outlets such as Bloomberg and MarketWatch. He has been featured in major publications like Forbes, Fortune, Barron’s, and The Wall Street Journal, and profiled in books such as Secrets of the Investment All-Stars and Investing Under Fire. Today, the firm manages over $1 billion in private and institutional accounts and remains a sought-after resource for high-net-worth individuals and institutions alike.
Navellier & Associates offers tailored portfolio reviews, designed to help clients make sound financial decisions aligned with their preferences, individual goals, and risk tolerance. These reviews include a comprehensive portfolio analysis, risk assessment, and personalized investment recommendations. Portfolios managed by Navellier range from $100,000 to over $100 million, and all recommendations are made on a person-by-person basis. This level of customization underscores the firm’s belief that every investor is unique and deserves a strategy that reflects their personal financial objectives.
In addition to its financial expertise, the Navellier team is composed of passionate professionals who share common interests and life goals with their clients. From hiking and skiing to golfing and parenting, the firm’s staff brings a personal touch to its services, fostering genuine connections with investors. Navellier & Associates is deeply committed to providing not only top-tier financial management but also exceptional client service, innovative investment tools, and cutting-edge market research. With a homegrown foundation and a global outlook, Navellier continues to help clients achieve long-term financial security through disciplined, adaptive, and data-driven investment strategies.
As of its most recent 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2024, Navellier & Associates reported managing approximately $834 million in securities. The firm’s top ten holdings account for 29.42% of this portfolio, reflecting its concentrated yet carefully optimized investment strategy grounded in systematic analysis and decades of market experience.
Our Methodology
We searched through Navellier & Associates’ Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the new stock picks that the firm invested in during the fourth quarter of the year. From the resultant data, we ranked the equities based on the hedge fund’s stake value in each holding. Additionally, we have mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock using data from 1,009 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
An engineer wearing protective gear overlooking a research and development laboratory.
KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 56
Navellier & Associates’ Equity Stake: $3.20 Million
Formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root, KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) operates across the fields of science, technology, and engineering. Founded in 1901 by Morris Woodruff Kellogg as The M.W. Kellogg Company in New York City, KBR has evolved into a major player in a wide array of industries, including aerospace, defense, industrial, and intelligence sectors. The company is currently headquartered in the KBR Tower in Houston, Texas, and continues to build on its long history of innovation and technical expertise.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) delivered strong financial results, surpassing analysts’ expectations on both earnings and revenue fronts. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, outperforming the market forecast of $0.82. Revenues for the quarter totaled $2.12 billion, exceeding the anticipated $2.01 billion. This performance reflects KBR’s successful execution of its strategic initiatives and operational discipline, solidifying its position in key markets.
Looking ahead, KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) has issued an optimistic outlook for 2025, forecasting continued growth driven by its focus on advanced technology and innovation. The company projects revenue between $8.7 billion and $9.1 billion for the year, representing approximately 15% growth at the midpoint. Additionally, KBR expects adjusted EBITDA to range from $950 million to $990 million and anticipates adjusted EPS between $3.71 and $3.95. These projections highlight KBR’s commitment to expanding its market presence and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in its core industries, positioning the company for sustained, long-term growth.
Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“On the plus side, KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) has been a strong performer so far YTD on the back of an investor day in the second quarter that highlighted the success of the last four-year plan (2020-2023) before laying out ambitious but credible targets for the next 4 years (2024- 2027). Since 2020, KBR has pivoted their commercial business away from high-risk EPC projects to a more differentiated IP-first consulting approach that now sees 20% EBIT margins and contributes 40% of their overall profitability. KBR has cleaned up their balance sheet by settling convertible notes and warrants and now sits at a healthy 2x net leverage. With the upcoming ramp of a $20B government services contract with the U.S. army, the company is well positioned to generate cash and return value to shareholders.”
In early 2025, KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) secured a multi-year contract with BP International Limited to provide engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) services for onshore, offshore, greenfield, brownfield, and new energy projects globally. The agreement involves collaboration across multiple international locations, reinforcing KBR’s reputation for delivering complex projects worldwide. This new development reflects KBR’s growing focus on space, defense, national security, and commercial markets, with expected revenue growth of 11% to 15% CAGR through 2027.
Overall, KBR ranks 6th on our list of Louis Navellier’s new stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of KBR, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than KBR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
