Zacks Research Comments on Leidos’ Q1 Earnings (NYSE:LDOS)

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Leidos in a report released on Friday, December 26th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the aerospace company will post earnings of $2.92 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.90. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Leidos’ current full-year earnings is $10.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Leidos’ Q3 2026 earnings at $3.08 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.13 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $12.17 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $3.08 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.16 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $12.77 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Leidos in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $218.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.42.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $183.19 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.10 and a 200 day moving average of $179.42. Leidos has a 12 month low of $123.62 and a 12 month high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 33.02%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kendall Capital Management grew its position in shares of Leidos by 93.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 4,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 145.6% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 4,742 shares during the period. McAdam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth $286,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth $2,556,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Leidos by 1,353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 165,003 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,031,000 after acquiring an additional 153,648 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.04, for a total value of $543,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,526,738. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos’ work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.