Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock from a buy (b-) rating to a hold (c+) rating. The stock traded as low as $137.11 and last traded at $137.2690, with a volume of 2251087 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $148.81.

LDOS has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Leidos from $232.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Leidos from $215.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group set a $204.00 price objective on Leidos in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $185.00 price objective on Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.64.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at $7,855,799.28. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Leidos by 46.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 86.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,248,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.7% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 20.2% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 6,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in Leidos by 222.3% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.15 and a 200-day moving average of $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.56.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 15.75%.

About Leidos

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos’ work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.