Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $29.84, but opened at $31.00. Leonardo DRS shares last traded at $30.60, with a volume of 52,554 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS's payout ratio is 45.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.83.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.77. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $942.18 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,695,279.25. The trade was a 19.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $120,269.43. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,262 shares in the company, valued at $458,732.58. This trade represents a 20.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,770 shares of company stock valued at $2,226,047 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,934,919 shares of the company's stock worth $256,377,000 after purchasing an additional 263,002 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Leonardo DRS by 183.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,715,000 after buying an additional 2,236,661 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,915,376 shares of the company's stock worth $54,061,000 after acquiring an additional 51,014 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,594,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,505,000 after acquiring an additional 278,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Leonardo DRS by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,432,110 shares of the company's stock worth $46,274,000 after purchasing an additional 166,936 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

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.