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

Key Points

• Analysts rate Leonardo DRS a “Moderate Buy”, with three buy ratings, one strong-buy rating and two holds. The average 12-month price target is $53.60, above the stock’s cited price of $42.56.
• Leonardo DRS exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.27 consensus and revenue of $913 million, up 10.1% year over year.
• Insiders sold 69,228 shares worth approximately $3.17 million over the past three months, while institutional investors own 18.76% of the company. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, implying a 0.8% yield.

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.60.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial upgraded Leonardo DRS to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Leonardo DRS from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other news, EVP Sally Wallace sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $65,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,852,650. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 11,545 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.13, for a total value of $521,025.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $476,166.63. The trade was a 52.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 69,228 shares of company stock worth $3,171,794 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,717,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,091,000 after purchasing an additional 34,858 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS during the second quarter worth about $212,883,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,988,403 shares of the company's stock worth $135,965,000 after purchasing an additional 153,697 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Leonardo DRS by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,255,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,887,000 after buying an additional 981,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in Leonardo DRS by 107.6% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,308,000 after buying an additional 1,098,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Stock Down 3.8%

NASDAQ:DRS opened at $42.56 on Thursday. Leonardo DRS has a fifty-two week low of $32.43 and a fifty-two week high of $50.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $45.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.22.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.08. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $913.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $903.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Leonardo DRS's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Leonardo DRS's payout ratio is currently 30.25%.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS is a U.S.-based defense technology company and wholly owned subsidiary of Italy's Leonardo S.p.A. The firm specializes in developing and integrating mission-critical systems for military and government customers, with a primary focus on command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). Its core offerings encompass advanced sensors, targeting systems, radars and electronic warfare solutions designed to enhance situational awareness and operational effectiveness across land, sea and air domains.

The company's portfolio includes naval combat management systems, unmanned vehicle sensors, power generation and distribution equipment, and training and simulation solutions.

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