Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 22 analysts, with 18 buys, two holds, one sell and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $99.47.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.21 in EPS versus the $0.14 estimate and $458.8 million in revenue, up 30.5% year over year.
• KTOS shares opened at $52.00, well below the $99.47 consensus target, while insiders sold 428,688 shares worth approximately $26.7 million over the past quarter.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.4706.

Several brokerages recently commented on KTOS. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.55, for a total transaction of $242,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 280,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,617,643.85. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.23, for a total transaction of $2,038,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 309,087 shares in the company, valued at $17,998,136.01. This trade represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 428,688 shares of company stock worth $26,672,182. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Vision Retirement LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the first quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $52.00 on Monday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12-month low of $43.09 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.99, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 305.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc NASDAQ: KTOS is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source