Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $43.80 and last traded at $43.45, with a volume of 363033 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BTIG Research set a $49.00 price objective on Leonardo DRS and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $38.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.19, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.63.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $799.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.72 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In other news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total value of $112,786.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,387,564.68. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $569,281.40. The trade was a 33.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 92,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,773. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.