Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $611.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LMT shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $589.00 to $603.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $519.00 to $626.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $705.00 to $695.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $635.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LMT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 1.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $902,714,000 after buying an additional 31,545 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556,609 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,384,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,828,000 after acquiring an additional 180,074 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 11.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,144,000 after acquiring an additional 119,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $476,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,281 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

LMT opened at $545.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $579.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $517.98. Lockheed Martin has a 12-month low of $413.92 and a 12-month high of $618.95.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.44% and a net margin of 9.36%. Lockheed Martin’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lockheed Martin will post 26.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is 47.79%.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments.