Northrop Grumman Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $2.06 (NYSE:NOC)

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 2.06 per share by the aerospace company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%.

Northrop Grumman has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Northrop Grumman has a payout ratio of 28.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Northrop Grumman to earn $29.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.4%.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $2.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $441.00. 1,074,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 900,016. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $474.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $499.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.56.

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.