Bank of America Upgrades Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) to Buy

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $40.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America's price target points to a potential upside of 26.58% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.83.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

NASDAQ:DRS traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.60. The company had a trading volume of 803,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 612,940. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.77. Leonardo DRS has a one year low of $19.88 and a one year high of $37.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.98.

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Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. Analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In related news, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $458,732.58. The trade was a 20.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,695,279.25. This represents a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,770 shares of company stock worth $2,226,047 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,722 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 37,838 shares of the company's stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 15,020 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 7.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 12,656 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 7.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Leonardo DRS by 226.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 18.76% of the company's stock.

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.