Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Five analysts rate Huntington Ingalls Industries a buy and five recommend holding, producing an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a 12-month price target of approximately $378.88.
• HII reported quarterly earnings of $5.27 per share, beating estimates of $3.79, while revenue rose 10.9% year over year to $3.42 billion. Shares opened at $327.90, below their 200-day moving average of $352.67.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, equivalent to $5.52 annually and a 1.7% yield. Institutional investors own 90.46% of HII, while recent insider transactions included substantial stock sales by the CEO and a vice president.

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $378.8750.

HII has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $349.00 to $379.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $364.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $420.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher D. Kastner sold 13,070 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.92, for a total value of $4,246,704.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,646,902.08. This represents a 53.80% decrease in their position. The sale 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, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.58, for a total value of $1,118,530.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,681,595.78. This represents a 29.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HII. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $944,877,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 38,526.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,986,567 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $675,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,424 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,646,733 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $560,004,000 after purchasing an additional 400,428 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,116,501 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $379,098,000 after purchasing an additional 56,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 85.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,619 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $369,186,000 after purchasing an additional 498,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of HII opened at $327.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $294.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $352.67. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a one year low of $262.66 and a one year high of $460.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.24.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.79 by $1.48. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 5.01%.The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.86 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.90%.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries NYSE: HII is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company's products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.

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