Northrop Grumman Co. (NOC) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 2nd

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 2.06 per share by the aerospace company on Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd.

Northrop Grumman has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Northrop Grumman has a payout ratio of 29.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Northrop Grumman to earn $27.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.6%.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $489.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $517.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $487.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Northrop Grumman

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.