Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Board of Directors Declares Stock Repurchase Plan

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $546.81.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:NOC traded down $4.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $475.56. 1,058,365 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 860,501. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $510.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $488.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.