Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Northrop Grumman, with 11 buy ratings, eight holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $659, ranging from $533 to $745 among recently updated estimates.
• Northrop Grumman’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $7.68 versus the $6.82 consensus and revenue of $10.88 billion, up 5.1% year over year. The company guided to fiscal 2026 EPS of $28.60–$29.10.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $2.47 per share, or $9.88 annually, producing a 1.8% yield. Institutional investors own 83.4% of the stock, while shares recently traded at $543.87.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $659.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $666.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $543.87 on Monday. Northrop Grumman has a 52-week low of $479.02 and a 52-week high of $774.00. The stock has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of -0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $534.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $619.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%.The business had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $2.47 dividend. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,958,151,000 after acquiring an additional 970,029 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 56,920.9% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 421,955 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $240,603,000 after acquiring an additional 421,215 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 272.8% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 401,664 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $229,033,000 after acquiring an additional 293,909 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after acquiring an additional 209,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,086.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 192,583 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,813,000 after purchasing an additional 176,352 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation NYSE: NOC is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company's portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company's work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.

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