Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Down 32.7% in June

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 646,400 shares, a decrease of 32.7% from the May 31st total of 961,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 330,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HII. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $288.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HII stock traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $246.33. 367,528 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 277,872. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a fifty-two week low of $199.11 and a fifty-two week high of $299.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.34.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The aerospace company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.37. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 6.09% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is currently 29.31%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.07, for a total transaction of $384,105.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,083,129.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.07, for a total transaction of $384,105.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,083,129.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jennifer R. Boykin sold 1,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.03, for a total transaction of $262,867.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,530.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,312,383 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $600,387,000 after purchasing an additional 15,798 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 787,756 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $229,607,000 after buying an additional 103,521 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.0% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 626,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $182,748,000 after buying an additional 24,368 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 478,560 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $124,251,000 after purchasing an additional 9,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,686,000 after purchasing an additional 9,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.