Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) - What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Of 25 analysts, 15 rate Northrop Grumman a buy, nine a hold and one a sell; the average 12-month price target is $643.74.
• Quarterly earnings topped expectations: EPS was $7.89 versus the $7.18 consensus, while revenue of $11.12 billion fell slightly short of estimates but grew 6.7% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $2.47, equivalent to $9.88 annually and a reported yield of 1.8%.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $643.74.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Guggenheim upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $556.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $675.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,397,074.10. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,707,203,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $5,773,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at $3,308,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $1,298,141,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2,414.5% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 27,358 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $13,934,000 after acquiring an additional 26,270 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE NOC opened at $549.01 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $470.06 and a 12-month high of $774.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $519.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $587.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $77.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of -0.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.17%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.

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