BTIG Research Begins Coverage on Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC)

BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $565.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on NOC. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $532.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $435.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $456.07 and a 200 day moving average of $459.43.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 117.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,154 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 461.2% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,362 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 6,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 30.7% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.