Insider Selling: Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) CEO Sells $4,246,704.40 in Stock

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) CEO Christopher Kastner sold 13,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.92, for a total transaction of $4,246,704.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,224 shares in the company, valued at $3,646,902.08. This trade represents a 53.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

Shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock traded down $3.08 on Tuesday, hitting $327.73. 395,514 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 544,350. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $292.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $354.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.66 and a 1-year high of $460.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $1.48. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 5.01%.The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 18.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HII. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth $944,877,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 38,526.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,986,567 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $675,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,424 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 85.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $369,186,000 after purchasing an additional 498,690 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,646,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $560,004,000 after purchasing an additional 400,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 588.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 351,879 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $119,663,000 after purchasing an additional 300,740 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HII. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $349.00 to $379.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $420.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $378.88.

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.