Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $2.69 Million Investment in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Key Points

• Legal & General invested approximately $2.69 million in Leonardo DRS during the second quarter, purchasing 62,969 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 18.76% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: Leonardo DRS has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $53.60, while JPMorgan raised its target to $53 but maintained a neutral rating.
• Leonardo DRS exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.35 in earnings per share and $913 million in revenue, with revenue up 10.1% year over year. Shares opened at $36.60, and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.09.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 62,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,687,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,717,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,091,000 after acquiring an additional 34,858 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS in the second quarter worth $212,883,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,988,403 shares of the company's stock worth $135,965,000 after acquiring an additional 153,697 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,255,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,887,000 after purchasing an additional 981,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 107.6% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,108 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Leonardo DRS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.60.

Leonardo DRS Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Leonardo DRS stock opened at $36.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.43 and a 1 year high of $50.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.12.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $913.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $903.27 million. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 12.97%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.25%.

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, CFO Michael Dippold sold 20,317 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total transaction of $755,386.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,143 shares in the company, valued at $1,306,616.74. This trade represents a 36.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Baylouny sold 36,471 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total value of $1,665,630.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,591,606.45. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 74,135 shares of company stock worth $3,225,002 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS is a U.S.-based defense technology company and wholly owned subsidiary of Italy's Leonardo S.p.A. The firm specializes in developing and integrating mission-critical systems for military and government customers, with a primary focus on command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). Its core offerings encompass advanced sensors, targeting systems, radars and electronic warfare solutions designed to enhance situational awareness and operational effectiveness across land, sea and air domains.

The company's portfolio includes naval combat management systems, unmanned vehicle sensors, power generation and distribution equipment, and training and simulation solutions.

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