Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 5,613 Shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,287 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,613 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Leonardo DRS were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,809,000 after purchasing an additional 179,224 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 32,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 7,728 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 291,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares during the last quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,784,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 16.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,239,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,326 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Leonardo DRS Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of DRS opened at $33.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.98. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.88 and a 1 year high of $37.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.97.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. On average, analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Leonardo DRS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,695,279.25. This trade represents a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Dippold sold 26,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $870,408.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,249,825.40. The trade was a 27.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,848,926. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.