Vident Advisory LLC Raises Position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,363 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,153 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Leonardo DRS were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. 18.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of DRS traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.46. The company had a trading volume of 187,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 718,804. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.73 and a 52-week high of $43.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.77, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.71.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $799.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.72 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. Leonardo DRS's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Leonardo DRS's payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other news, EVP Sally Wallace sold 8,353 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $274,312.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,811,454.40. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total value of $112,786.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,387,564.68. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,773 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $49.00 price target on Leonardo DRS and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.