Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has received an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", with 12 buy ratings and a 12-month price target of $69.14.
• Significant changes in ownership have occurred, including Rovida Advisors acquiring a new position worth $82.31 million, and Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 11.7%.
• The company reported a 17.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, achieving $351.5 million, with earnings per share exceeding analysts' expectations at $0.11.

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.1429.

KTOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total value of $325,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 313,327 shares in the company, valued at $20,397,587.70. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 270,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,888,747.68. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,276 shares of company stock worth $6,088,481 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $82,315,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $41,118,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.2% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,163,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $64,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,585 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of KTOS opened at $98.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 3.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.55. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $22.69 and a 1-year high of $112.57. The stock has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 985.60 and a beta of 1.12.

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

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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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