Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Announces Earnings Results

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.1 %

Northrop Grumman stock traded up $9.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $480.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,164,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,878. The firm has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $441.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.34.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $515.07.

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.