Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $513.23.

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $425.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $459.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.78.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $283,114,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $165,786,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $154,720,000 after purchasing an additional 319,109 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.