Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to Buyback $3.00 billion in Outstanding Shares

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC traded down $4.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $475.56. 1,058,365 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 860,501. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $510.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $488.01. 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 has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $69.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $546.81.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.