Leonardo DRS, Inc. (DRS) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 22nd

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd.

Leonardo DRS has a payout ratio of 28.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Leonardo DRS to earn $1.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.0%.

Leonardo DRS Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of DRS opened at $42.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. Leonardo DRS has a 12-month low of $22.73 and a 12-month high of $43.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.43.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $799.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $49.00 target price on shares of Leonardo DRS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $112,786.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 137,283 shares in the company, valued at $4,387,564.68. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,354 shares of company stock worth $3,019,773 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 369,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,157,000 after buying an additional 83,077 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 148,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,882,000 after buying an additional 12,712 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 43,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Leonardo DRS announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

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.