Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.83.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America upgraded Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Leonardo DRS Trading Down 7.8 %

Leonardo DRS stock opened at $30.15 on Monday. Leonardo DRS has a 12-month low of $19.88 and a 12-month high of $37.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.47.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Leonardo DRS’s payout ratio is 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In related news, CFO Michael Dippold sold 26,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $870,408.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,249,825.40. This trade represents a 27.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,695,279.25. This trade represents a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,848,926. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Leonardo DRS by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,934,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,377,000 after acquiring an additional 263,002 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 183.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,715,000 after buying an additional 2,236,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,915,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,061,000 after buying an additional 51,014 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,594,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,505,000 after buying an additional 278,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,432,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,274,000 after acquiring an additional 166,936 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Leonardo DRS

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.