Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

HII has been the topic of a number of other reports. Melius raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $376.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $316.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.75.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

NYSE HII opened at $387.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $327.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.97. The company has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $158.88 and a 1-year high of $391.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.74%.The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.17, for a total transaction of $247,251.79. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 20,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,421,948.97. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total value of $268,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,106.64. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 140.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 108 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 310.0% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 123 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company’s products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.