Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Acquires New Shares in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired 118,051 shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc., worth around $3.88 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the defense technology company.
• Insider trading activity shows COO John Baylouny and Director Eric Salzman both sold shares, resulting in a significant decrease in their positions.
• Leonardo DRS recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, which represents a 0.9% dividend yield for investors.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 118,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,882,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 147.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 3,285 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leonardo DRS Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ DRS traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.97. The company had a trading volume of 266,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,045,828. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $49.31. The firm's 50 day moving average is $44.49 and its 200-day moving average is $39.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.65.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 7.31%.The business had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Leonardo DRS has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.060-1.110 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRS. BTIG Research set a $49.00 price objective on Leonardo DRS and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Leonardo DRS from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Leonardo DRS in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Leonardo DRS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Leonardo DRS from $33.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leonardo DRS news, Director David W. Carey sold 6,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.94, for a total transaction of $295,761.72. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,097,139.08. This trade represents a 21.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 4,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.17, for a total value of $181,271.51. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,820 shares in the company, valued at $486,629.40. The trade was a 27.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,216 shares of company stock worth $945,342 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.