Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 3,253 Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) by 29.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,253 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leonardo DRS were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRS. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,254,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,848,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,298,000 after buying an additional 804,938 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 116.3% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 799,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,292,000 after buying an additional 429,922 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,384,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 840,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,639,000 after buying an additional 160,170 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

NASDAQ DRS opened at $40.19 on Thursday. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.87 and a 1 year high of $49.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.88.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.50 million. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Leonardo DRS has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.060-1.110 EPS. Analysts predict that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Dippold sold 19,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total transaction of $806,344.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,450,436.10. This trade represents a 24.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 4,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.17, for a total transaction of $181,271.51. Following the sale, the director owned 11,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $486,629.40. This trade represents a 27.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,558 shares of company stock worth $1,933,052. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leonardo DRS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Leonardo DRS in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Leonardo DRS in a research note on Monday, August 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leonardo DRS in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

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.