Zacks Research Issues Positive Forecast for NOC Earnings

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note issued on Friday, December 26th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the aerospace company will post earnings of $6.84 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $6.75. The consensus estimate for Northrop Grumman’s current full-year earnings is $28.05 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Northrop Grumman’s Q3 2026 earnings at $7.16 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $5.65 EPS and Q2 2027 earnings at $8.25 EPS.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $688.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $650.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $651.18.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $577.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $571.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $566.28. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $640.90.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.7% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,815 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,633,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 33.24%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.