Truist Financial Upgrades Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Truist Financial upgraded Leonardo DRS (DRS) to a "Strong-Buy"; other recent analyst actions include Weiss raising to Buy and Bank of America lifting its price target to $55, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy with a $51 target.
• The stock trades near $40.03 with a market cap of $10.65 billion, a P/E of about 38.9 and a 12‑month range of $32.43–$49.31, indicating limited upside to recent highs despite analyst optimism.
• Insiders sold roughly 64,361 shares (~$2.94M) in the last 90 days and now own just 0.25% of the company, even as institutional investors like Vanguard and State Street increased their positions.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Truist Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DRS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Leonardo DRS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

NASDAQ:DRS opened at $40.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $44.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.81. Leonardo DRS has a 12-month low of $32.43 and a 12-month high of $49.31.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 7.62%. Research analysts expect that Leonardo DRS will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In other news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.20, for a total transaction of $542,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,494 shares in the company, valued at $293,528.80. This represents a 64.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 7,071 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.38, for a total value of $320,881.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 63,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,894,245.64. The trade was a 9.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 64,361 shares of company stock worth $2,944,837 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,717,551 shares of the company's stock worth $263,091,000 after purchasing an additional 34,858 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,988,403 shares of the company's stock worth $135,965,000 after purchasing an additional 153,697 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 116.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,661,214 shares of the company's stock worth $166,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,596 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,255,400 shares of the company's stock worth $76,887,000 after purchasing an additional 981,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 107.6% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company's stock worth $94,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS is a U.S.-based defense technology company and wholly owned subsidiary of Italy's Leonardo S.p.A. The firm specializes in developing and integrating mission-critical systems for military and government customers, with a primary focus on command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). Its core offerings encompass advanced sensors, targeting systems, radars and electronic warfare solutions designed to enhance situational awareness and operational effectiveness across land, sea and air domains.

The company's portfolio includes naval combat management systems, unmanned vehicle sensors, power generation and distribution equipment, and training and simulation solutions.

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