Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Stake in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) by 214.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,900 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 94,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.05% of Leonardo DRS worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,410 shares of the company's stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 18,380 shares of the company's stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,060 shares of the company's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Leonardo DRS by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In other news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $1,586,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,695,279.25. The trade was a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $290,765.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $569,281.40. This represents a 33.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leonardo DRS has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.33.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DRS traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.21. 289,073 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 671,567. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $32.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.88 and a 12 month high of $38.00.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $942.18 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. 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%.

Leonardo DRS 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.