Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,284,905 shares, a decrease of 14.1% from the January 15th total of 1,495,357 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 535,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 535,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HII has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $300.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $421.00 target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $287.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $370.38.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

NYSE:HII traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $417.20. The company had a trading volume of 519,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,309. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52-week low of $164.68 and a 52-week high of $436.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $380.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.46.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.32. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 4.85%.The business had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total transaction of $268,124.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,106.64. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.17, for a total transaction of $247,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 20,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,421,948.97. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 38,526.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,986,567 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $675,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,424 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,646,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $560,004,000 after buying an additional 400,428 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,116,501 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $379,098,000 after buying an additional 56,618 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 978,365 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $332,717,000 after buying an additional 11,743 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 901,140 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,447,000 after acquiring an additional 6,046 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

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.