Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from "strong‑buy" to "buy", trimming its recommendation despite other firms maintaining favorable views.
• HII reported an earnings beat, posting $4.04 EPS vs. $3.72 expected and $3.48B revenue vs. $3.09B expected, with revenue up 15.7% year‑over‑year.
• The analyst picture is split — six Buy and six Hold ratings yield a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average 12‑month target of $383.22, with the stock trading near $394.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

HII has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $421.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Melius Research raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.22.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 2.2%

HII stock opened at $394.44 on Friday. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a twelve month low of $207.36 and a twelve month high of $460.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $413.84 and a 200 day moving average of $359.24.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.32. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 4.85%.The company had revenue of $3.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.45, for a total transaction of $1,858,780.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,601,082. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric D. Chewning sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.44, for a total value of $736,848.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,774.56. This represents a 46.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HII. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 48,606 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $16,543,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 9,219 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,532 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,283,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

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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