Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Falls 5.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) traded down 5.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $34.68 and last traded at $34.75. 4,864,570 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 4,414,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.69.

Key Stories Impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Investors following KTOS have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Kratos introduced KnownSpace Recon+™, a portable terminal designed to bring multiple radio-frequency space-domain-awareness capabilities to personnel in the field. The product adds to the company’s defense and space technology offerings. Article: Kratos Introduces Knownspace Recon+ Portable Terminal for Space Domain Awareness Anywhere
• Positive Sentiment: Kratos completed a System Requirements Review for the U.S. Space Force’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking ground-management effort. The review is a technical milestone supporting further requirements development and integration planning, rather than an announcement of a new contract award. Article: Kratos Completes SRR Supporting U.S.S.F. SSC’s RMWT Ground Management & Integration Effort
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports say Guggenheim, Canaccord Genuity, and UBS lowered their expectations or price targets for KTOS, adding a negative analyst-sentiment catalyst. Article: Guggenheim Lowers Expectations for Kratos Article: Canaccord Cuts Kratos Price Target Article: UBS Cuts Kratos Price Target

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KTOS. BNP Paribas Exane raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $88.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.58 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 5.42 and a quick ratio of 4.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.40.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The aerospace company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $471.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.40 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.18% and a net margin of 1.34%. The company’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.16, for a total transaction of $393,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 288,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,180,313.76. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scot Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 65,123 shares in the company, valued at $4,135,310.50. The trade was a 13.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 373,013 shares of company stock worth $23,340,582. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,930,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $295,867,000 after purchasing an additional 914,515 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,515,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $106,893,000 after purchasing an additional 164,607 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 26.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,032,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,766,000 after purchasing an additional 428,445 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 21,357.3% during the third quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC now owns 1,823,870 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $77,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,370 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $74,520,000 after buying an additional 342,789 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a defense technology company that develops products and services for U.S. government agencies, national security organizations, and allied governments. Its work spans unmanned systems, satellite communications, microwave electronics, command-and-control systems, and training and simulation. The company’s offerings include unmanned aerial vehicles and target drones, as well as systems and components used in space and satellite communications and other defense applications.