Seaport Res Ptn Issues Negative Estimate for NOC Earnings

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Northrop Grumman in a report issued on Thursday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst R. Safran now anticipates that the aerospace company will post earnings per share of $6.27 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $6.42. The consensus estimate for Northrop Grumman’s current full-year earnings is $28.05 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Northrop Grumman’s Q4 2025 earnings at $7.52 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $6.76 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.97 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $7.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $28.91 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $539.96 on Friday. 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 cap of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $488.43 and a 200-day moving average of $492.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.