Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS – Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.43.

LDOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Leidos from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $114.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $130.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th.

Leidos Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $92.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.18. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $87.24 and a fifty-two week high of $111.12.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The aerospace company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Leidos had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Leidos will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Leidos in the 3rd quarter valued at about $812,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Leidos by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,976 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its stake in Leidos by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 67.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 603,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $60,786,000 after acquiring an additional 242,201 shares during the last quarter. 75.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Company Profile

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Leidos Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. It operates through the following three segments: Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health. The Defense Solutions segment provides services, solutions, and products focusing on digital modernization, mission systems and integration, Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (“”C4ISR””) technologies and services, maritime solutions, transformative software, analytics, intelligence analysis, mission support and logistics services, weapons systems and space systems and solutions.