11,293 Shares in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. $HII Purchased by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Wealth Partners LLC disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, buying 11,293 shares valued at about $4.29 million.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: although TD Cowen and Citigroup recently cut their price targets, the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $374.
• HII reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.79 topping estimates and revenue of $3.10 billion beating forecasts, while the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share.

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,293 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $4,290,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.8% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 75,256 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $28,590,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 40,001 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $15,196,000 after acquiring an additional 5,531 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,945 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,126 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,227,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HII shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $420.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $405.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $374.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Down 0.6%

Huntington Ingalls Industries stock opened at $269.33 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $298.06 and its 200-day moving average is $363.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.19. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $250.91 and a 1 year high of $460.00. The company has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.25.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 17.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Huntington Ingalls Industries's payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.58, for a total transaction of $1,118,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,681,595.78. This represents a 29.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries NYSE: HII is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company's products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.

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