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

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $550.56.

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $224,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $479,000. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,534 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

NOC stock opened at $480.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $511.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $487.91. The company has a market cap of $69.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.