Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Falls 5.3% – Here’s Why

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price fell 5.3% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $34.68 and last traded at $34.75. 4,864,570 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 4,414,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.69.

Recent Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Headlines

Investors following KTOS have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Kratos completed a System Requirements Review for the U.S. Space Force’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking ground-management effort. The review is a technical milestone supporting further requirements development and integration planning, rather than an announcement of a new contract award. Article: Kratos Completes SRR Supporting U.S.S.F. SSC’s RMWT Ground Management & Integration Effort
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a long-term arrangement with Seagate Space to use its offshore launch platform, targeting maritime-based hypersonic and national-security missions. A separate report also describes a Kratos contract to supply satellite gateway antenna systems; the provided details do not specify its value. Article: Kratos Enters Long-Term Agreement with Seagate Space
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports say Guggenheim, Canaccord Genuity, and UBS lowered their expectations or price targets for KTOS, adding a negative analyst-sentiment catalyst. Article: Guggenheim Lowers Expectations for Kratos Article: Canaccord Cuts Kratos Price Target Article: UBS Cuts Kratos Price Target

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KTOS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $104.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $75.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $130.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.40.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 5.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.66 and a 200-day moving average of $61.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 289.58 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The aerospace company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.18% and a net margin of 1.34%. The business had revenue of $471.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.16, for a total transaction of $393,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 288,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,180,313.76. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scot Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,135,310.50. The trade was a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 373,013 shares of company stock worth $23,340,582. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. B&D White Capital Company LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 21,357.3% during the 3rd quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC now owns 1,823,870 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $77,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,370 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,293,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,746,000. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,338,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,930,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $295,867,000 after buying an additional 914,515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a defense technology company that develops products and services for U.S. government agencies, national security organizations, and allied governments. Its work spans unmanned systems, satellite communications, microwave electronics, command-and-control systems, and training and simulation. The company’s offerings include unmanned aerial vehicles and target drones, as well as systems and components used in space and satellite communications and other defense applications.