Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HII. Wolfe Research cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Vertical Research cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $280.00 to $285.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.88.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

Shares of HII stock traded up $4.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $189.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,492,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,322. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.96. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52-week low of $184.29 and a 52-week high of $299.50. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 16.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is 27.59%.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 158.5% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

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.