Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Stock Price Up 3.5% - Here's What Happened

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $46.92 and last traded at $46.87. 314,936 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 740,229 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $33.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research set a $49.00 target price on shares of Leonardo DRS and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Leonardo DRS Trading Down 5.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 55.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $39.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.51.

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

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Leonardo DRS's payout ratio is 41.38%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors 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 shares were sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $112,786.84. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $1,471,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 328,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,738,810.80. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,773 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRS. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,308 shares of the company's stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 96,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,335 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 12,940 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

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.