Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. $HII Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,047,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $252,403,000 after purchasing an additional 16,236 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 666,440 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $160,919,000 after buying an additional 25,737 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 4.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 465,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,337,000 after acquiring an additional 18,777 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,332,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 383,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $92,487,000 after acquiring an additional 6,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HII. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Melius upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $316.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Ingalls Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.36, for a total transaction of $146,491.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $760,122.48. This represents a 16.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total value of $268,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,731 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,106.64. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,103 shares of company stock worth $5,477,768. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Performance

NYSE HII opened at $363.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.88 and a 1-year high of $365.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.48.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 11.79%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is 38.12%.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a leading provider of professional services to the U.S. government. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII designs, constructs and maintains nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines and other complex vessels for the U.S. Navy. The company’s products include nuclear aircraft carriers, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, as well as amphibious assault ships, destroyers and cutters.

Established in 2011 as a spin-off from Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations, HII traces its heritage to two historic builders: Newport News Shipbuilding, founded in the 19th century, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in 1938.