Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 969,900 shares, a growth of 71.0% from the September 15th total of 567,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 319,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HII. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 9.1% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.3% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 16.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of HII traded up $6.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $259.39. The stock had a trading volume of 227,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,821. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 12-month low of $212.58 and a 12-month high of $299.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.52.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The aerospace company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.27 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 16.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HII shares. Vertical Research lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.00.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.