Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.9% in Q1, owning 4,882,400 shares valued at approximately $996 million after selling 146,922 shares.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, set to be paid on September 12, representing an annual yield of 2.0%.
• Despite a decrease in Vanguard's holdings, other institutional investors have increased their stakes, with significant raises by firms like HM Payson & Co. (71.9%) and Farther Finance Advisors LLC (12.2%) during the same period.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,882,400 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 146,922 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.44% of Huntington Ingalls Industries worth $996,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 578,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,316,000 after buying an additional 77,718 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 27.3% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,737 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,108,000 after buying an additional 114,635 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 75,182.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 492,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,004,590,000 after buying an additional 491,695 shares during the period. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 273.2% in the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 455,308 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $92,901,000 after buying an additional 333,308 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 1,965 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.94, for a total transaction of $449,867.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 21,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,859,938.32. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE HII traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $266.79. The stock had a trading volume of 144,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.88 and a 1 year high of $293.14. The stock has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $250.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.99.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The aerospace company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.63. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's payout ratio is presently 40.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HII. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $236.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.00.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

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.