Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Melius upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $365.92 and last traded at $364.4190, with a volume of 106650 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $349.75.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HII. Citigroup began coverage on Huntington Ingalls Industries in a report on Friday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $376.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $316.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $325.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.36, for a total value of $146,491.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,418 shares in the company, valued at $760,122.48. The trade was a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 20,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,421,948.97. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CI Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.7% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 2,535 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 5,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 10.1% during the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 438 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $323.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.42.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 11.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. 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 (DPR) is presently 38.12%.

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.