Norges Bank Purchases New Shares in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 771,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,920,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 4.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 291,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Leonardo DRS in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,651,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS during the third quarter worth $1,381,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 148.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 178,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,032,000 after acquiring an additional 106,565 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,915,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,061,000 after acquiring an additional 51,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 18.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRS. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leonardo DRS

In related news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $290,765.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total value of $112,575.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,498,854.60. This trade represents a 4.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,848,926. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leonardo DRS Trading Down 7.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ DRS opened at $30.15 on Monday. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.88 and a twelve month high of $37.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.40 and its 200-day moving average is $32.47.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $942.18 million. Leonardo DRS had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 6.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Leonardo DRS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.