Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.83.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of Leonardo DRS stock opened at $34.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Leonardo DRS has a 52 week low of $19.88 and a 52 week high of $37.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.98.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $942.18 million. Research analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total transaction of $112,575.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,498,854.60. This represents a 4.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $120,269.43. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,732.58. This trade represents a 20.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,848,926 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Leonardo DRS by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 226.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Leonardo DRS by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 42.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Leonardo DRS during the fourth quarter worth $116,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.