EAM Global Investors LLC Acquires New Stake in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

EAM Global Investors LLC acquired a new position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 109,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,526,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Leonardo DRS in the 4th quarter worth about $384,000. Mariner LLC bought a new position in Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Leonardo DRS by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,304,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in Leonardo DRS by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 76,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,482,000 after buying an additional 6,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Leonardo DRS stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $34.81. 301,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 663,730. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.88 and a 1 year high of $37.99. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $32.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. The company had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS's payout ratio is presently 45.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In related news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total value of $112,786.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,387,564.68. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $1,586,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,695,279.25. This represents a 19.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock worth $4,849,137 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leonardo DRS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.33.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.