Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. $HII

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Huntington Ingalls Industries stake by 318.6% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 19,733 shares valued at approximately $7.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.46% of HII.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive, with five Buy and five Hold ratings and an average price target of $378.88. Wolfe Research and Citigroup recently upgraded their outlooks, while other analysts maintained Hold or Buy ratings.
• HII reported strong quarterly results, including $5.27 in adjusted EPS versus the $3.79 consensus estimate and revenue of $3.42 billion, up 10.9% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.38, equivalent to a 1.7% annual yield.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 318.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,733 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,019 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.05% of Huntington Ingalls Industries worth $7,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 38,526.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,986,567 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $675,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,424 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 85.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,619 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $369,186,000 after acquiring an additional 498,690 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,646,733 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $560,004,000 after purchasing an additional 400,428 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 588.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 351,879 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $119,663,000 after purchasing an additional 300,740 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 390.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 285,339 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $97,036,000 after purchasing an additional 227,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HII has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $364.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $349.00 to $379.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, CEO Christopher D. Kastner sold 13,070 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.92, for a total transaction of $4,246,704.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,224 shares in the company, valued at $3,646,902.08. The trade was a 53.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.58, for a total transaction of $1,118,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,681,595.78. This represents a 29.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 0.7%

HII opened at $327.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $294.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $352.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.66 and a 12 month high of $460.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.24.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.48. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 5.01%.The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's payout ratio is currently 32.90%.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company 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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