Cerity Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 71.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,207 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,961 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 71.9% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 153 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on 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, TD Cowen upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $251.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anastasi D. Kelly sold 1,960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.58, for a total value of $455,856.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,485 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,661.30. This represents a 10.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 1,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.94, for a total transaction of $449,867.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 21,228 shares in the company, valued at $4,859,938.32. This represents a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,225 shares of company stock worth $1,207,207 over the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

HII traded down $5.60 on Friday, reaching $273.27. The company had a trading volume of 213,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 651,615. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.51. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.88 and a 1 year high of $293.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.31.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The aerospace company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.63. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.90%.

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.