Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.33.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRS. Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

DRS traded up $1.77 on Friday, reaching $42.00. 2,148,375 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,037. Leonardo DRS has a twelve month low of $21.35 and a twelve month high of $42.41. The stock has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 53.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $33.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.45.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. The business had revenue of $799.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $290,765.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,335 shares in the company, valued at $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $1,471,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 328,404 shares in the company, valued at $10,738,810.80. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 99,360 shares of company stock valued at $3,262,887. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,934,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,377,000 after acquiring an additional 263,002 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 183.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company's stock worth $111,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236,661 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Leonardo DRS by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,594,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,505,000 after purchasing an additional 278,541 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,432,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,274,000 after buying an additional 166,936 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,301,964 shares of the company's stock worth $42,066,000 after buying an additional 62,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.76% of the company's stock.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.