Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 544,400 shares, a decline of 15.0% from the June 30th total of 640,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 307,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.07, for a total transaction of $384,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,083,129.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.07, for a total value of $384,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,083,129.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Jennifer R. Boykin sold 1,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.03, for a total value of $262,867.29. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,530.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HII. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 914,410 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $225,247,000 after purchasing an additional 126,654 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 12.1% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

Shares of HII stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $279.98. The stock had a trading volume of 301,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,834. The business’s fifty day moving average is $253.69 and its 200-day moving average is $267.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.53. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $199.11 and a 1-year high of $299.50.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The aerospace company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.37. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 6.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is 29.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HII shares. Citigroup started coverage on Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.