Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $441.92 and last traded at $433.4580, with a volume of 131322 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $424.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HII shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Melius Research upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $370.38.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.22.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.32. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.17, for a total transaction of $247,251.79. Following the sale, the vice president owned 20,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,421,948.97. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,267,000 after acquiring an additional 7,464 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 2,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 182.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,408 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,940,000 after acquiring an additional 13,195 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 660.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 34,188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,626,000 after purchasing an additional 29,692 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

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.