Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped 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 report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $467.82 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $68.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $489.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.67.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,222 shares of company stock valued at $648,786 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 101.9% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 208 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 57,901 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,242,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 61,877 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,914,000 after buying an additional 7,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

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.