Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $38.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the aerospace company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.10% from the company's previous close.

KTOS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Noble Financial raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.82.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded up $1.33 on Thursday, reaching $44.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,147,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,004. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $47.09. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 343.14 and a beta of 1.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 1.68%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total transaction of $197,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 288,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,502,703.52. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.76, for a total value of $1,350,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,328,388.48. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,373,706. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.1% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,888 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,449 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.