Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) reached a new 52-week high after B. Riley upgraded its price target from $55.00 to $72.00, reflecting strong confidence in the stock's performance.
• Multiple brokerages have issued positive ratings for KTOS, with a majority recommending buy ratings and a consensus target price of $55.92.
• Recently reported quarterly earnings showed a revenue increase to $351.50 million, beating estimates and indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 17.1%.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $72.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $68.68 and last traded at $66.57, with a volume of 1418380 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $63.88.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on KTOS. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $202,380.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,514,693.32. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at $12,033,416.50. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 145,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,644,656 over the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.70. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 666.53 and a beta of 1.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%. The business had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current 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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