L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE:LHX) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 19.6% in March to 3,030,865 shares (about 1.6% of shares outstanding), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 2.1 days based on average daily volume.
• Analysts are broadly positive—one Strong Buy, 12 Buy and four Hold ratings give a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $349.55 target; the stock trades near $349.76 after a recent quarter that beat EPS estimates but slightly missed revenue expectations.
• Insiders have been net sellers (19,025 shares worth ~$6.82M over 90 days), even as the company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 (annualized $5.00, ~1.4% yield).

L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE:LHX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,030,865 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 2,534,067 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,442,063 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LHX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Vertical Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $355.00 target price on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on L3Harris Technologies from $389.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus upgraded L3Harris Technologies to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Melanie Rakita sold 2,378 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.45, for a total transaction of $811,968.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 4,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,666,958.90. This represents a 32.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jon Rambeau sold 5,528 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.32, for a total transaction of $2,047,128.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,836,651.20. This represents a 41.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,025 shares of company stock valued at $6,824,370. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of L3Harris Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of L3Harris Technologies by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 97 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company's stock.

L3Harris Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:LHX traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $349.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,267,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,441. L3Harris Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $208.11 and a fifty-two week high of $379.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $65.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $355.54 and a 200-day moving average of $321.58.

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.10. L3Harris Technologies had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 7.35%.The firm had revenue of $5.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that L3Harris Technologies will post 11.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

L3Harris Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from L3Harris Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. L3Harris Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.62%.

About L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies NYSE: LHX is an American aerospace and defense company formed in 2019 through the combination of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of technology solutions for government and commercial customers, with a particular emphasis on defense, intelligence and public safety applications.

The company's offerings span communications systems, avionics, electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors, space systems and mission integration.

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