Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on NOC. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $471.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $499.67 and its 200 day moving average is $489.56. The company has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,186,681,000 after acquiring an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,581,644,000 after purchasing an additional 18,791 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.