Share Buyback Program Initiated by Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Board of Directors

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Stock Down 7.5 %

Leonardo DRS stock opened at $28.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.57 and its 200-day moving average is $31.54. Leonardo DRS has a fifty-two week low of $19.88 and a fifty-two week high of $37.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $981.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Leonardo DRS will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.17.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In other Leonardo DRS news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $1,586,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,695,279.25. This represents a 19.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 25,880 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,602,714.24. The trade was a 35.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 150,089 shares of company stock worth $5,178,619. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.