Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Leidos has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. Leidos has a payout ratio of 13.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Leidos to earn $11.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.2%.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $134.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.48. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.22 and a 52-week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LDOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.