Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $702.6316.

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $806.00 to $745.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $815.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Karpus Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $549.42 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $481.28 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of -0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $589.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $630.38.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.80%.The firm had revenue of $9.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.