Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $450.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $421.00 target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.13.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of HII opened at $408.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.13. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52-week low of $177.42 and a 52-week high of $460.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $421.13 and its 200-day moving average is $347.02.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, EVP Eric D. Chewning sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.44, for a total transaction of $736,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,949 shares in the company, valued at $844,774.56. This trade represents a 46.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.45, for a total transaction of $1,858,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at $8,601,082. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 108 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 88 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

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.