Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts’ consensus is “Hold”: Of 17 analysts covering Leidos, 10 recommend holding, six recommend buying, and one gives a strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $160.27 versus the stock’s reported price of $143.89.
• Leidos exceeded quarterly expectations: The company reported adjusted EPS of $3.26, beating estimates of $2.91, while revenue reached $4.56 billion, up 7.2% year over year and above consensus.
• Shareholder returns remain a focus: Leidos authorized a repurchase of up to 20 million shares and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equivalent to a 1.2% annualized yield.

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $160.2667.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LDOS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 price objective on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Leidos Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE LDOS opened at $143.89 on Monday. Leidos has a twelve month low of $98.86 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $115.03 and its 200 day moving average is $142.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.52.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Leidos will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $1,406,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Leidos by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Leidos during the third quarter worth $32,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Leidos

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos' work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.

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