Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 801 Shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,677 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,029,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $950,391,000 after purchasing an additional 14,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $197,677,000 after purchasing an additional 29,670 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 831,965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $157,216,000 after purchasing an additional 204,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 578,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $109,316,000 after purchasing an additional 77,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 453,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $85,637,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HII. Barclays boosted their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $236.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $244.56.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:HII opened at $229.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.88 and a 1 year high of $285.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.18. The company has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.31.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The aerospace company reported $3.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 4.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.56, for a total transaction of $142,170.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,691.04. The trade was a 20.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Anastasi D. Kelly sold 1,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.58, for a total value of $455,856.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,661.30. This represents a 10.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,010 shares of company stock valued at $899,510. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.