Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $432.00 and last traded at $425.2640, with a volume of 127559 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $425.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HII has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Melius raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $376.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $335.00.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $340.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.59. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.36.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.74%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.44, for a total transaction of $268,124.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 466 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 2,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $760,122.48. This trade represents a 16.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 17,103 shares of company stock valued at $5,477,768 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 509.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 586,929 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $168,983,000 after buying an additional 490,587 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter worth $93,332,000. Sound Shore Management Inc CT purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $80,047,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 3,576.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 195,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 190,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunriver Management LLC acquired a new stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,532,000. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

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.