Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BNP Paribas Exane

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Leidos with an outperform rating and a $165 price target, implying about 25% upside from the prior close.
• Leidos reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $3.13 EPS versus estimates of $2.88 and revenue of $4.40 billion versus expectations of $4.28 billion.
• Despite the bullish analyst call, the stock traded around $131.90, well below the average analyst target of $191.25, while recent insider sales and mixed analyst opinions show sentiment remains split.

Analysts at BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock. BNP Paribas Exane's target price points to a potential upside of 25.10% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on LDOS. Jefferies Financial Group set a $185.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Leidos from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $193.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Leidos from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Argus raised Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.25.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS traded up $3.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $131.90. 370,241 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,624. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.21. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $121.20 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,686.75. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total transaction of $317,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 49,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,855,799.28. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Leidos by 124.3% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,042 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 0.8% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 25,432 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,955,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 5.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 151,463 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $23,556,000 after purchasing an additional 7,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at $1,827,000. 76.12% of the stock is 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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