Legal & General Group Plc Invests $2.69 Million in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,687,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Leonardo DRS by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,717,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,091,000 after purchasing an additional 34,858 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS during the second quarter valued at about $212,883,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,988,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,965,000 after buying an additional 153,697 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 77.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,255,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,887,000 after buying an additional 981,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 107.6% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,308,000 after buying an additional 1,098,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leonardo DRS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Leonardo DRS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.60.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DRS opened at $36.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.12. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.35. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.43 and a 12 month high of $50.59.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.08. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 12.97% and a net margin of 8.52%.The company had revenue of $913.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $903.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Leonardo DRS’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Dippold sold 20,317 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total value of $755,386.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,143 shares in the company, valued at $1,306,616.74. The trade was a 36.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Sally Wallace sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $65,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 57,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,852,650. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 74,135 shares of company stock worth $3,225,002 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS is a U.S.-based defense technology company and wholly owned subsidiary of Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. The firm specializes in developing and integrating mission-critical systems for military and government customers, with a primary focus on command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). Its core offerings encompass advanced sensors, targeting systems, radars and electronic warfare solutions designed to enhance situational awareness and operational effectiveness across land, sea and air domains.

The company’s portfolio includes naval combat management systems, unmanned vehicle sensors, power generation and distribution equipment, and training and simulation solutions.