JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Price Target to $48.00

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $33.00 to $48.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on DRS. BTIG Research set a $49.00 price objective on Leonardo DRS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target 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 raised shares of Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of DRS stock opened at $44.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.85, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.02. Leonardo DRS has a 52 week low of $22.73 and a 52 week high of $46.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.70.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $799.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.72 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 7.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.38%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In other news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $112,786.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 137,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,387,564.68. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David W. Carey sold 6,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.94, for a total value of $295,761.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,139.08. This represents a 21.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Leonardo DRS by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS during the first quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

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.