Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. $HII

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly reduced its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. by 71.1%, selling 6,692 shares and leaving it with 2,722 shares valued at approximately $553,000.
• Huntington Ingalls Industries reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.86, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.23, with revenue for the quarter reaching $3.08 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.0%, with a payout ratio of 40.42%.

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 71.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,722 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,692 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HII. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 75,182.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 492,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,004,590,000 after buying an additional 491,695 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1,648.4% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 375,872 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $71,029,000 after buying an additional 354,374 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 273.2% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 455,308 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $92,901,000 after buying an additional 333,308 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4,900.7% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 210,480 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $39,774,000 after buying an additional 206,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 831,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $157,216,000 after buying an additional 204,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $236.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $235.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

HII stock traded up $4.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.42. 217,082 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 626,162. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.88 and a 52 week high of $293.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.33.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The aerospace company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 11.34%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.38 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industries has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 1,965 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.94, for a total value of $449,867.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 21,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,859,938.32. This trade represents a 8.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

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.