Northrop Grumman Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $2.06 (NYSE:NOC)

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 2.06 per share by the aerospace company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Northrop Grumman has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Northrop Grumman has a dividend payout ratio of 28.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Northrop Grumman to earn $28.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.4%.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $433.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $62.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $472.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $498.17.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.56.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.