Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Declares Dividend Increase – $3.30 Per Share

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 2nd,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 3.30 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, December 27th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15.

Lockheed Martin has raised its dividend by an average of 7.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Lockheed Martin has a dividend payout ratio of 47.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lockheed Martin to earn $28.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $13.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.0%.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

Lockheed Martin stock opened at $529.41 on Friday. Lockheed Martin has a 1 year low of $413.92 and a 1 year high of $618.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $568.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $528.91. The company has a market cap of $125.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.50 by $0.34. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.77 earnings per share. Lockheed Martin’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lockheed Martin will post 26.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LMT. Melius upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $589.00 to $603.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $519.00 to $626.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $611.00.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments.