Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.83.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In other news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $290,765.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $120,269.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $458,732.58. The trade was a 20.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock worth $4,849,137. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRS. FMR LLC raised its position in Leonardo DRS by 183.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236,661 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,920,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,067,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,495,000 after buying an additional 498,979 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 261.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 621,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,081,000 after buying an additional 449,642 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 142.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 522,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,895,000 after buying an additional 306,940 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leonardo DRS Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ:DRS opened at $35.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.43, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.11. Leonardo DRS has a 1 year low of $19.88 and a 1 year high of $37.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.10 and a 200-day moving average of $32.65.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Equities analysts predict that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS’s payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.