Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $553.27.

A number of analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after acquiring an additional 372,500 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,206,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 296,844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,409,000 after purchasing an additional 157,854 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE NOC opened at $467.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $491.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.