Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HII. Melius Research upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $376.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $343.63.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

Huntington Ingalls Industries stock opened at $420.34 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $359.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.40. 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 company has a market cap of $16.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.36. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a twelve month low of $158.88 and a twelve month high of $436.14.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.17, for a total value of $247,251.79. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 20,441 shares in the company, valued at $6,421,948.97. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $146,491.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $760,122.48. This trade represents a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,047,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $252,403,000 after purchasing an additional 16,236 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 966,622 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,272,000 after buying an additional 54,139 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.7% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 901,140 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,447,000 after acquiring an additional 6,046 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 12.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 670,268 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $192,977,000 after acquiring an additional 76,512 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 666,440 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $160,919,000 after acquiring an additional 25,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

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.