Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Booz Allen Hamilton from $200.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $177.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booz Allen Hamilton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.91.

Booz Allen Hamilton Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE BAH opened at $127.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Booz Allen Hamilton has a 52 week low of $121.02 and a 52 week high of $190.59.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a return on equity of 70.51% and a net margin of 7.39%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Booz Allen Hamilton’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booz Allen Hamilton

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in the fourth quarter worth about $173,055,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 951,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,472,000 after buying an additional 324,159 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,349,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 28.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,288,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,651,000 after acquiring an additional 285,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 878.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 243,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,388,000 after acquiring an additional 218,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.