Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $4.30 Million in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 133,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,304,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the third quarter worth $109,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the third quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Leonardo DRS Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:DRS opened at $33.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.85, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a one year low of $19.88 and a one year high of $37.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.17.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. The firm had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $942.18 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Leonardo DRS’s payout ratio is presently 45.57%.

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $120,269.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,732.58. The trade was a 20.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 26,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $870,408.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,249,825.40. This represents a 27.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,848,926 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.83.

Leonardo DRS Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.