VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Leonardo DRS, Inc. $DRS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 46,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,978,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,883,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Leonardo DRS by 3,937.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,940,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,843,233 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,481,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 107.6% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,118,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 152.1% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,776,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,639,000 after buying an additional 1,071,708 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leonardo DRS Price Performance

DRS opened at $36.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.35. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.43 and a fifty-two week high of $50.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.01.

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

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John Baylouny sold 36,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total value of $1,665,630.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,591,606.45. This represents a 22.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 20,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total value of $755,386.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,306,616.74. The trade was a 36.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 64,517 shares of company stock valued at $2,773,382 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Leonardo DRS from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Leonardo DRS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.60.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and manufactures advanced products and systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, other government agencies and allied military customers. The company supports land, sea and air platforms as well as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Its offerings include electro-optical and infrared sensing systems, network computing and communications equipment, electronic warfare technologies, power and propulsion systems, thermal management solutions, force protection products and advanced battle-management systems.