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

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $523.20.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $524.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $77.59 billion, a PE ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $534.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $501.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.28.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 58,819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,536,000 after purchasing an additional 5,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 130,281 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,006,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.