Benchmark Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $25.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KTOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Raymond James upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. They issued a market outperform rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $23.50.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

KTOS opened at $20.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.96 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12-month low of $13.13 and a 12-month high of $22.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $277.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total transaction of $63,665.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 290,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,277,246.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total transaction of $147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 384,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,101,934.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total transaction of $63,665.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 290,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,277,246.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,720 shares of company stock worth $3,391,521. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 8.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 168,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 13,475 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 59,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 7,689 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $45,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,380 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 849,947 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,766,000 after purchasing an additional 26,877 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 250,101 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,757,000 after buying an additional 6,907 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.