Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Trading 6.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) shares shot up 6.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $293.21 and last traded at $294.8240. Approximately 46,863 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 531,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HII has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $405.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $420.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $374.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $294.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $362.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.25.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.09. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.79 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 17.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 3,500 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.58, for a total transaction of $1,118,530.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,681,595.78. The trade was a 29.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HII. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 2,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

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.