Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Saturday. The company provided EPS guidance of 24.900-25.300 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 24.760. The company issued revenue guidance of $41.0 billion-$41.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $41.1 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $516.29.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $494.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,045,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,339. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $505.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $443.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.90. The stock has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.18 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.