First Trust Advisors LP Buys 278,541 Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,594,092 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 278,541 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.60% of Leonardo DRS worth $51,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Leonardo DRS by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Leonardo DRS by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Leonardo DRS by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,671 shares of the company's stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

NASDAQ DRS traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.25. 458,891 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,974. 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 company has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.09. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.88 and a 1 year high of $37.99.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $942.18 million. On average, analysts predict that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.57%.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $112,786.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,387,564.68. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sally Wallace sold 8,353 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $274,312.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,811,454.40. This represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,360 shares of company stock worth $4,849,137 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Leonardo DRS currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.