Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) Short Interest Update

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 838,400 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 985,100 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 400,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HII has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $273.00 to $191.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $290.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.89.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HII traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $196.30. 508,374 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,072. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.08. The company has a market cap of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.79. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a 1-year low of $184.29 and a 1-year high of $299.50.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The aerospace company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.84 by ($1.28). Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 14.92 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is an increase from Huntington Ingalls Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s payout ratio is presently 29.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Ingalls Industries news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.24, for a total transaction of $82,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,627 shares in the company, valued at $4,028,245.48. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HII. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2,710.1% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 88,435 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,381,000 after purchasing an additional 85,288 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,203 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 19,400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,129,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,812 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $268,520,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Company Profile

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.