Short Interest in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) Grows By 11.5%

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the December 15th total of 1,570,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 631,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Leonardo DRS Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Leonardo DRS stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.61. 650,025 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 521,110. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Leonardo DRS has a twelve month low of $18.73 and a twelve month high of $37.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.35. The company has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 48.12, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $812.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $775.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.07, for a total value of $1,533,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,004,303.59. The trade was a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 25,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.08, for a total transaction of $881,990.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,602,714.24. This trade represents a 35.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,083 shares of company stock worth $3,349,255 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leonardo DRS

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Leonardo DRS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 89,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 4,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 133.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 98,141 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,239,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,326 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Leonardo DRS by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,915,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,061,000 after purchasing an additional 51,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Leonardo DRS from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.