Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49, Briefing.com reports. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman updated its FY 2024 guidance to 24.450-24.850 EPS.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $462.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $465.77. The firm has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $503.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.