Essential Planning LLC. Acquires New Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,457,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,363 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,004,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 1,932 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.9% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,060 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.56, for a total transaction of $142,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,691.04. The trade was a 20.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Schievelbein bought 2,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.82 per share, with a total value of $349,418.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,313,120.94. This represents a 36.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HII shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $188.00 to $145.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $250.00 to $195.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.22.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock opened at $191.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.61. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.49. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.88 and a fifty-two week high of $294.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The aerospace company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by ($0.13). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 4.77%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

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.