Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $523.20.

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $18,322,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,000. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 57.4% in the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 867 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 87.8% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 21,802 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,505,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE NOC opened at $515.43 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $76.28 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.32. Northrop Grumman has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $528.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.36.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

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.