Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) Trading Down 3.7% – Here’s Why

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) traded down 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $112.41 and last traded at $112.26. 1,475,107 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 20% from the average session volume of 1,224,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised Booz Allen Hamilton from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $200.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Booz Allen Hamilton from $180.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Booz Allen Hamilton to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.83 and its 200-day moving average is $142.96.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a return on equity of 68.97% and a net margin of 7.39%. Equities research analysts expect that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Booz Allen Hamilton’s dividend payout ratio is 32.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booz Allen Hamilton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 461,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Booz Allen Hamilton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 18,930 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 99,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after purchasing an additional 47,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 951,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,472,000 after buying an additional 324,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

Booz Allen Hamilton Company Profile

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.