Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on HII. TD Cowen increased their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $316.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.75.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 0.1%

HII opened at $327.10 on Thursday. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a fifty-two week low of $158.88 and a fifty-two week high of $333.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $304.95 and its 200 day moving average is $274.11.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.74%.The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 38.12%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.36, for a total value of $146,491.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $760,122.48. This represents a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total value of $268,124.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,106.64. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,011,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 112.2% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 5,522 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 125,455 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after buying an additional 35,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 58.5% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 7,668 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,565,000 after buying an additional 2,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.