Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 16 research firms, with an average 12-month price objective set at $57.64.
• The aerospace company reported a Q2 EPS of $0.11, exceeding expectations, and revenue increased by 17.1% year-over-year to $351.50 million.
• Recent insider activity includes CFO Deanna H. Lund selling 6,567 shares, and hedge funds now own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.6429.

A number of research firms have issued reports on KTOS. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. BTIG Research raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, August 11th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of KTOS stock opened at $64.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 642.76 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a current ratio of 4.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.51. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52 week low of $20.70 and a 52 week high of $72.70.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 318,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,033,416.50. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total transaction of $308,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 270,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,888,747.68. The trade was a 2.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,986 shares of company stock worth $3,620,588 in the last 90 days. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Rovida Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth about $82,315,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth about $41,118,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,163,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $64,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,585 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.

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