Bank of Nova Scotia Has $1.53 Million Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia significantly reduced its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 86.7% in the first quarter, leaving it with 11,355 shares valued at $1,532,000.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Leidos, with UBS raising the price target to $184.00 while others issued downgrades; the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $179.46.
• Leidos recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share to be paid on September 30th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 15.12%.

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 86.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,355 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 74,261 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Leidos were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Leidos in the 1st quarter worth approximately $267,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Leidos by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $378,942,000 after acquiring an additional 682,532 shares during the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,841 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,418 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 263.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 9,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 437,535 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $63,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LDOS. Baird R W cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price target on Leidos and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird cut Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.46.

Leidos Stock Down 0.4%

LDOS stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $176.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 242,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,205. The company has a market cap of $22.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.62 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm's 50-day moving average is $158.33 and its 200-day moving average is $147.21.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.12%.

Leidos Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.