Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOCFree Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Get Our Latest Report on NOC

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

NOC stock opened at $482.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $480.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOCGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,644,000 after acquiring an additional 18,791 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after acquiring an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC)

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