Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Leidos has raised its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. Leidos has a payout ratio of 13.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Leidos to earn $11.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.2%.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE LDOS opened at $134.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.48. Leidos has a 12-month low of $123.22 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.