William Blair Issues Optimistic Forecast for Leidos Earnings

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) – William Blair raised their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Leidos in a report issued on Tuesday, November 4th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now anticipates that the aerospace company will earn $11.67 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.40. The consensus estimate for Leidos’ current full-year earnings is $10.62 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Leidos’ FY2026 earnings at $12.36 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.92.

Leidos Stock Up 3.5%

LDOS stock opened at $199.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.52. Leidos has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 8.22%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.26%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,975 shares of company stock worth $4,078,740. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth $261,501,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 3,450.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,012,000 after purchasing an additional 684,272 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 64.4% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $241,256,000 after purchasing an additional 598,974 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 29.8% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $315,250,000 after purchasing an additional 536,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 130.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 711,437 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $96,001,000 after buying an additional 402,454 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Leidos

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.