Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $514.33.

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $466.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $468.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Northrop Grumman

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.