Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to Repurchase $3.00 billion in Outstanding Stock

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.0 %

NOC opened at $475.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $510.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $488.01. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $546.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $666,461. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.