Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Upgraded by Guggenheim to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on KTOS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of KTOS stock opened at $47.59 on Monday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a one year low of $43.09 and a one year high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.94 and a beta of 1.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, Director Scot Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,135,310.50. This represents a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.33, for a total transaction of $19,299,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 761,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,995,786.56. The trade was a 28.26% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 381,688 shares of company stock valued at $23,935,287. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth $25,000. Vision Retirement LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% in the first quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology company that develops products and systems for national security, defense and commercial applications. The company primarily serves the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, while also supporting allied governments and selected commercial customers.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and ground systems, target drones, tactical drones, satellite communications systems, space-related products, missile defense technology, hypersonic and high-speed systems, radar and command-and-control solutions, and microwave electronics.