William Blair Forecasts Leidos’ FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:LDOS)

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) – Analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Leidos in a report issued on Tuesday, November 4th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now anticipates that the aerospace company will earn $11.67 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $11.40. The consensus estimate for Leidos’ current full-year earnings is $10.62 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Leidos’ FY2026 earnings at $12.36 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on LDOS. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.92.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $199.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.10 and its 200-day moving average is $168.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. Leidos has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 8.22%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LDOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Leidos by 3.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,528,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $556,677,000 after purchasing an additional 111,813 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,909,142 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $460,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,321 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Leidos by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $315,250,000 after acquiring an additional 536,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Leidos by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,020 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $253,262,000 after acquiring an additional 170,263 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at about $261,501,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,804,892.85. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.26%.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.