Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ (KTOS) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock. Benchmark’s target price suggests a potential upside of 45.69% from the company’s current price.

KTOS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of KTOS stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.16. The stock had a trading volume of 231,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,292,451. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.43. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of -285.29 and a beta of 0.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a one year low of $12.12 and a one year high of $21.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total transaction of $63,665.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 290,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,277,246.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total transaction of $63,665.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 290,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,277,246.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,538 shares of company stock worth $763,479. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,164,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $246,824,000 after acquiring an additional 229,472 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,990,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,978,000 after acquiring an additional 195,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,380 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,937,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 74.2% during the third quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 2,413,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,715 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.