Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Update

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 838,400 shares, a drop of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 985,100 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 400,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Up 1.4 %

HII traded up $2.74 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $196.30. The company had a trading volume of 508,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,072. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $243.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.08. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 52 week low of $184.29 and a 52 week high of $299.50. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 14.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a positive change from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.24, for a total transaction of $82,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,028,245.48. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,519,111 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $930,383,000 after buying an additional 187,411 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 94.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,778,210 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $455,222,000 after acquiring an additional 863,800 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,812 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $268,520,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 732,587 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $180,458,000 after acquiring an additional 215,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 638,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $157,326,000 after purchasing an additional 11,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HII. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $273.00 to $191.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $226.00 to $194.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.89.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.