Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Jumps 1.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Northrop Grumman shares rose 1.7% to about $562.40, with trading volume 14% above the average, following positive analyst developments.
• Analysts raised several price targets, including Baird’s upgrade to “outperform” with a $675 target and Guggenheim’s increase to $640. The stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average target of $643.74.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $7.89 in EPS versus the $7.18 consensus, while revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion. Northrop Grumman also maintains a $2.47 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.8% yield.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $569.00 and last traded at $562.3990. 1,054,286 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 927,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $552.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $675.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a "buy" rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $585.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $79.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $521.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $592.42.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. Northrop Grumman's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.62 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 31.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 61,436 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $41,914,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,707,203,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $3,308,000. Sage Capital Advisors llc purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $5,773,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $1,298,141,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation NYSE: NOC is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.

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