Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.38

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.38 per share by the aerospace company on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%.

Leidos has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Leidos has a dividend payout ratio of 17.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Leidos to earn $8.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.0%.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $130.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Leidos has a 1 year low of $76.58 and a 1 year high of $131.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.69. The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.78, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.70.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Leidos will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LDOS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total value of $341,725.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,413,210.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,879,471.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total value of $341,725.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,413,210.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.