Wall Street Zen Downgrades Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from buy to hold, adding to a mixed analyst outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, HII recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.79 and revenue of $3.10 billion, both ahead of consensus estimates.
• Analyst sentiment is split overall: the stock has 4 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings, with a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $393.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $421.00 target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $393.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE HII opened at $326.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.29. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $215.04 and a 1-year high of $460.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $383.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $371.94.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 17.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 4,400 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.45, for a total transaction of $1,858,780.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 20,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,601,082. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric D. Chewning sold 1,700 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.44, for a total value of $736,848.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,949 shares in the company, valued at $844,774.56. The trade was a 46.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 140.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 108 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the first quarter worth $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 88 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company's stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries NYSE: HII is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company's products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.

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