Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $471.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $499.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $489.56. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,644,000 after purchasing an additional 18,791 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently 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.