Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.17.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DRS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of DRS stock opened at $28.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.01. Leonardo DRS has a one year low of $19.88 and a one year high of $37.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.57 and its 200 day moving average is $31.54.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $942.18 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.07, for a total transaction of $1,533,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,004,303.59. This trade represents a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sally Wallace sold 4,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.81, for a total value of $151,040.59. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,047,850.62. This trade represents a 12.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 150,089 shares of company stock worth $5,178,619 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter valued at about $570,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Leonardo DRS by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 135,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,386,000 after acquiring an additional 31,185 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 47,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 12,153 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $116,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

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.