Short Interest in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Rises By 68.7%

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a growth of 68.7% from the February 13th total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 753,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HII has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $188.00 to $145.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.22.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

Shares of HII stock traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.34. 790,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,291. The company has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.49. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52-week low of $158.88 and a 52-week high of $294.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.27 and a 200 day moving average of $213.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

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

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 316.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 346 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 97,456 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,865,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

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.