Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Upgraded to Buy at Melius

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) was upgraded by equities researchers at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Friday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $376.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.75.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of HII stock opened at $349.68 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $321.37 and a 200 day moving average of $286.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $158.88 and a 1-year high of $360.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.36.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 8,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,106.64. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 20,441 shares in the company, valued at $6,421,948.97. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,103 shares of company stock worth $5,477,768. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HII. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 509.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 586,929 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $168,983,000 after buying an additional 490,587 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter worth $93,332,000. Sound Shore Management Inc CT bought a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter valued at $80,047,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3,576.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 195,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 190,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunriver Management LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,532,000. 90.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.