Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.09

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd.

Leonardo DRS has a dividend payout ratio of 28.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Leonardo DRS to earn $1.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.0%.

Leonardo DRS Trading Up 0.8%

Leonardo DRS stock opened at $42.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Leonardo DRS has a 12 month low of $22.73 and a 12 month high of $43.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 53.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. The business had revenue of $799.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on DRS shares. Bank of America upgraded Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BTIG Research set a $49.00 target price on Leonardo DRS and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on 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 increased their target price on Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Leonardo DRS announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In related news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total value of $112,786.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,387,564.68. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $290,765.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,773. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 43,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 148,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 12,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 369,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,157,000 after acquiring an additional 83,077 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leonardo DRS Company 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.