Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Position in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. $HII

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 21.7% in the first quarter, selling 212,290 shares and leaving it with 766,075 shares valued at about $291 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on HII is mixed, with several firms lowering price targets; the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating and an average target price of $374.
• Huntington Ingalls reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.79 and revenue of $3.10 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share for a 2.0% yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 21.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 766,075 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 212,290 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.95% of Huntington Ingalls Industries worth $291,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,031 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $13,613,000 after purchasing an additional 26,940 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,634,000. Builder Investment Group Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,815,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 365,760 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $124,384,000 after acquiring an additional 152,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 478.1% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,295 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.58, for a total value of $1,118,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Up 3.2%

HII stock opened at $277.32 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $294.66 and its 200 day moving average is $362.46. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.25. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $256.45 and a one year high of $460.00. 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 (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 4.71%.The business's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.79 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 17.31 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Huntington Ingalls Industries Profile

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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