Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS during the second quarter valued at about $212,883,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 107.6% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,308,000 after buying an additional 1,098,108 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the second quarter worth approximately $24,941,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Leonardo DRS during the second quarter worth $24,857,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,024,000 after acquiring an additional 15,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Leonardo DRS in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on Leonardo DRS in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.57.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

Leonardo DRS stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.32. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.43 and a 52 week high of $50.59.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 12.97% and a net margin of 8.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.25%.

More Leonardo DRS News

Here are the key news stories impacting Leonardo DRS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.46, above the $0.35 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.07 billion, exceeding the $1.03 billion estimate. EPS increased from $0.29 and revenue grew 11% year over year. Earnings Flash: Leonardo DRS adjusted EPS
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability improved sharply: net earnings rose 60% to $115 million, adjusted EBITDA increased 27% to $149 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 14.0% from 12.2%, supported by favorable product mix, operating leverage, and strong execution. Leonardo DRS third-quarter financial results
• Positive Sentiment: Bookings reached a record $1.6 billion, producing a 1.5x book-to-bill ratio. Funded backlog rose 21% year over year to a record $5.6 billion, improving visibility into future revenue from defense programs including tactical radars, naval power and propulsion, and space sensing.
• Positive Sentiment: Leonardo DRS raised its 2026 outlook. Revenue guidance increased to $3.95-$3.985 billion, adjusted EBITDA guidance to $545-$555 million, and adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $1.50-$1.53. Leonardo DRS raises fiscal 2026 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, payable November 25 to shareholders of record November 12. The company also repurchased approximately $12 million of stock during the quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s earnings call emphasized robust defense demand and confidence in the raised outlook, although the guidance excludes the pending Raft acquisition and remains subject to government funding, contract execution, and integration risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter free cash flow fell to $61 million from $77 million a year earlier because of higher working-capital needs. Cash declined to $294 million, although the company reported no borrowings under its credit facility and reduced long-term debt.

Insider Activity

In other Leonardo DRS news, EVP Jason Rinsky sold 3,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.81, for a total value of $177,009.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,080,245.61. The trade was a 14.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 20,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total transaction of $755,386.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,143 shares in the company, valued at $1,306,616.74. The trade was a 36.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies advanced products and systems for the U.S. military and government customers, as well as allied nations. The company operates as a subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. and focuses on technologies used in land, sea, air and space-related defense applications.

Its offerings include sensing and surveillance systems, electro-optical and infrared technologies, radar and electronic warfare products, network computing and communications systems, counter-uncrewed aircraft systems, force protection equipment, and naval power and propulsion systems.