Virtus Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS, purchasing 21,811 shares valued at approximately $717,000, making it the firm's 24th largest holding.
• Leonardo DRS reported earnings of $0.23 per share, beating estimates, with revenues of $829 million for the quarter, indicating a year-over-year growth of 10.1%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.9%.

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $717,000. Leonardo DRS makes up approximately 0.9% of Virtus Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in Leonardo DRS by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 90,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,989,000 after buying an additional 5,659 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 225.1% during the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 52,549 shares of the company's stock worth $1,757,000 after buying an additional 36,386 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 1st quarter worth $970,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 396.6% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,047 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 5,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 1st quarter worth $3,882,000. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRS. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Leonardo DRS in a report on Monday, August 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leonardo DRS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Leonardo DRS in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $33.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

DRS traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.47. 847,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,141,221. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.20. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.00 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.50 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 7.31%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Leonardo DRS has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.060-1.110 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, COO John Baylouny sold 11,375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.17, for a total value of $468,308.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 125,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,183,632.36. This trade represents a 8.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 4,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.17, for a total transaction of $181,271.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at $486,629.40. This represents a 27.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,216 shares of company stock worth $945,342. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Leonardo DRS Profile

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.