Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 48.0% in the 1st quarter, leaving them with 2,706 shares valued at $552,000.
• Huntington Ingalls Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, which will be paid on September 12th, reflecting a 2.0% dividend yield.
• The company reported earnings of $3.86 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 3.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 48.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,706 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,496 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HII. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 831,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $157,216,000 after buying an additional 204,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 578,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,316,000 after acquiring an additional 77,718 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,737 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,108,000 after acquiring an additional 114,635 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 75,182.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 492,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,004,590,000 after acquiring an additional 491,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 273.2% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 455,308 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $92,901,000 after acquiring an additional 333,308 shares in the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of HII traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $267.65. The stock had a trading volume of 347,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 645,724. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.88 and a 1 year high of $293.14. The firm has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50 day moving average is $248.17 and its 200 day moving average is $218.86.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The aerospace company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.63. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.54%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 1,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.94, for a total value of $449,867.10. Following the sale, the vice president owned 21,228 shares in the company, valued at $4,859,938.32. This trade represents a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HII shares. TD Cowen raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $236.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $235.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.88.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Profile

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.