Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Buys 5,210 Shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 63.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,450 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $2,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,778,210 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $455,222,000 after purchasing an additional 863,800 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 732,587 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $180,458,000 after purchasing an additional 215,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,519,111 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $930,383,000 after purchasing an additional 187,411 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,698,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,947 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $80,886,000 after purchasing an additional 95,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HII shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $226.00 to $194.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $250.00 to $195.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $290.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.89.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Up 0.8 %

HII traded up $1.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $202.58. 640,650 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,985. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $193.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $184.29 and a one year high of $299.50.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.70 EPS. Huntington Ingalls Industries's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 14.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Huntington Ingalls Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 400 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.24, for a total value of $82,096.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,028,245.48. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.