Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.82 and last traded at $40.45, with a volume of 5388 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research set a $49.00 target price on Leonardo DRS and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.00.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.72 million. During the same quarter 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $290,765.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the 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 approximately $4,387,564.68. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,773 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 183.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company's stock worth $111,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,661 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Leonardo DRS during the first quarter worth approximately $31,254,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 16.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,848,473 shares of the company's stock worth $192,298,000 after purchasing an additional 804,938 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,920,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,067,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,495,000 after purchasing an additional 498,979 shares in the last quarter. 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.