Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Update

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,205,631 shares, a decrease of 34.0% from the February 26th total of 1,827,959 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 429,648 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HII has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $384.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Melius Research raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $450.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $421.00 target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.13.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Down 0.8%

HII stock traded down $3.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $381.66. The company had a trading volume of 375,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,409. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52 week low of $177.42 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The company has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $419.10 and a 200 day moving average of $350.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The aerospace company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 4.85%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.91%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, EVP Eric D. Chewning sold 1,700 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.44, for a total value of $736,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,774.56. This trade represents a 46.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad N. Boudreaux sold 4,400 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.45, for a total value of $1,858,780.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,601,082. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HII. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 206 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 82,338 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $19,881,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 350.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,463 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,027 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 383,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $92,487,000 after buying an additional 6,670 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 8.7% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 22,934 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company’s products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.