Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.93 EPS

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93, RTT News reports. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman updated its FY 2024 guidance to 25.650-26.050 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $25.65-26.05 EPS.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $522.88. 69,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 871,456. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $522.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $480.30. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.79%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,490 shares of company stock worth $747,372 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $542.56.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.