Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Down 38.7% in March

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a drop of 38.7% from the February 28th total of 2,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 776,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

NYSE:HII traded up $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $205.22. 560,211 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 483,881. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.49. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1 year low of $158.88 and a 1 year high of $291.97.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The aerospace company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by ($0.13). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 4.77%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.56, for a total transaction of $142,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,884 shares in the company, valued at $546,691.04. This trade represents a 20.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Schievelbein acquired 2,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.82 per share, for a total transaction of $349,418.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,967 shares in the company, valued at $1,313,120.94. The trade was a 36.26 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 256,513 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $48,473,000 after acquiring an additional 76,070 shares during the last quarter. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 4th quarter worth $434,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,074,000. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 15,568 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 7,404 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HII shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $188.00 to $145.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.22.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.