Short Interest in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Increases By 14.2%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, a growth of 14.2% from the June 30th total of 2,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.3 %

KTOS stock traded down $0.07 on Monday, reaching $22.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 447,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,057. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.27. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12-month low of $13.98 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 87.15 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 3.02.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.43% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $277.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 310,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,200,020. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 310,001 shares in the company, valued at $6,200,020. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total transaction of $30,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,515 shares in the company, valued at $1,323,403. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,220 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,256 over the last three months. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $1,628,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 113.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 311,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,727,000 after buying an additional 165,356 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,990,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,978,000 after buying an additional 195,615 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 287,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 33,500 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,164,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $246,824,000 after buying an additional 229,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KTOS. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.