Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $2.86 Million in Firefly Aerospace, Inc. $FLY

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group acquired 100,528 Firefly Aerospace shares worth approximately $2.86 million, joining several institutional investors that recently increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with seven Buy, four Hold and one Sell rating; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $40.64.
• Firefly shares opened at $17.82 after a 7.8% decline, trading well below their 52-week high of $73.80. The company reported quarterly revenue growth of 44.8% year over year and an adjusted loss that beat analyst expectations.

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 100,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Firefly Aerospace at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,409,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Firefly Aerospace by 233.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,773,607 shares of the company's stock worth $39,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,987 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its position in Firefly Aerospace by 151.3% during the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 1,069,588 shares of the company's stock worth $23,927,000 after purchasing an additional 643,886 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its holdings in Firefly Aerospace by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 660,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,765,000 after buying an additional 166,599 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Firefly Aerospace by 92.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 608,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,607,000 after buying an additional 292,804 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Firefly Aerospace from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Firefly Aerospace from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Firefly Aerospace from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Firefly Aerospace from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David Leigh Wheeler sold 3,765 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.12, for a total transaction of $169,876.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 142,758 shares in the company, valued at $6,441,240.96. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Firefly Aerospace Trading Down 7.8%

NASDAQ FLY opened at $17.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion and a P/E ratio of -2.19. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Firefly Aerospace, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.00 and a 52 week high of $73.80.

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.04. Firefly Aerospace had a negative net margin of 181.16% and a negative return on equity of 40.96%. The business had revenue of $80.88 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($5.09) earnings per share. Firefly Aerospace's revenue for the quarter was up 44.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Firefly Aerospace, Inc. will post -1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Firefly Aerospace Company Profile

Firefly Aerospace NASDAQ: FLY is a U.S.-based aerospace company that designs, manufactures and operates launch vehicles and in-space systems for commercial, civil and national security customers. The company focuses on providing end-to-end small- and medium-lift launch services, mission integration and spacecraft hardware to support satellite deployment and on-orbit operations.

Firefly's product portfolio includes the Alpha small launch vehicle, developed to carry small satellites to low Earth orbit, and plans for larger vehicles and in-space capabilities to address a range of payload sizes and mission profiles.

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