Swiss National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Leonardo DRS were worth $5,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Leonardo DRS by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 33,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total transaction of $112,575.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,334 shares in the company, valued at $2,498,854.60. The trade was a 4.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $1,586,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,695,279.25. The trade was a 19.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock worth $4,848,926 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of DRS stock opened at $33.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 42.97, 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.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Leonardo DRS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leonardo DRS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.83.

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.