Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $25.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

KTOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $22.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $17.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -287.95 and a beta of 0.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52-week low of $12.12 and a 52-week high of $21.60.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total value of $121,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 352,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,114,794.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,538 shares of company stock valued at $763,479 in the last three months. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth $36,937,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,380 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 74.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 2,413,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,715 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5,354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 726,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 713,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 39.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,550,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,291,000 after purchasing an additional 435,654 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.