Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $400.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $300.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $450.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $370.38.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Up 2.9%

NYSE:HII opened at $418.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $378.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.04. The company has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.34. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $159.41 and a 1-year high of $436.14.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.28%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is 35.91%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total transaction of $268,124.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,106.64. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 owned 20,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,421,948.97. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 206 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $416,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,504 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.