Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

HII has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Melius Research raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $376.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $343.63.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE HII opened at $420.34 on Friday. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 12-month low of $158.88 and a 12-month high of $436.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $359.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $308.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.74%.The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, CEO Christopher D. Kastner sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.06, for a total transaction of $4,815,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 68,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,876,707.34. The trade was a 18.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.36, for a total value of $146,491.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $760,122.48. The trade was a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,103 shares of company stock worth $5,477,768. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 463.9% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,024 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,601 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $249,000. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $287,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 2,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company’s products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.