Share Buyback Program Authorized by Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Board of Directors

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOCGet Free Report) declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $546.81.

View Our Latest Research Report on NOC

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE NOC opened at $480.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $507.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.88. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $69.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOCGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $666,461. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Northrop Grumman

(Get Free Report)

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.

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