Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Up 5.5% in December

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 928,900 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 880,600 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 539,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.24, for a total value of $82,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,627 shares in the company, valued at $4,028,245.48. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,947 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,886,000 after purchasing an additional 95,324 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 7.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 139,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,812,000 after buying an additional 9,634 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 17.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the third quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Fulcrum Equity Management raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 2,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

NYSE:HII opened at $188.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $200.07 and its 200 day moving average is $240.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 12 month low of $184.29 and a 12 month high of $299.50.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on HII. TD Cowen cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $226.00 to $194.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $250.00 to $195.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.89.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.