Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $436.14 and last traded at $424.2810, with a volume of 102453 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $425.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HII shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $362.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Melius Research upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $376.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $343.63.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $359.79 and a 200-day moving average of $308.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.36.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.74%.The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, CEO Christopher D. Kastner sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.06, for a total transaction of $4,815,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 68,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,876,707.34. This trade represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.17, for a total transaction of $247,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 20,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,421,948.97. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HII. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 463.9% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,024 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,729,000 after acquiring an additional 6,601 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 2,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company’s products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.