Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $966,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,019 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOC. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 18,805 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,001,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth $214,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth $6,097,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 406.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 46,777 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,390,000 after purchasing an additional 37,546 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC traded up $0.16 on Monday, hitting $438.10. 790,693 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 966,320. The firm has a market cap of $64.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $443.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for 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%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman 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.