Needham Investment Management LLC Buys 13,000 Shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Needham Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) by 32.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $14,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HII. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.24, for a total transaction of $82,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,028,245.48. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 1.1 %

HII traded down $2.08 on Tuesday, hitting $192.76. The company had a trading volume of 59,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,422. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.29 and a 52-week high of $299.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.55.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 30.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HII has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $273.00 to $191.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $226.00 to $194.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $228.89.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

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.