Jefferies Financial Group Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Lockheed Martin Co. (LMT)

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) – Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group dropped their Q4 2018 EPS estimates for shares of Lockheed Martin in a report released on Tuesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group analyst S. Kahyaoglu now expects that the aerospace company will post earnings per share of $4.29 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.58. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Lockheed Martin’s FY2020 earnings at $24.00 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $355.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 25th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 26th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $343.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $386.00 price target on shares of Lockheed Martin and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.49.

Shares of NYSE LMT opened at $305.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.71. Lockheed Martin has a 1 year low of $291.52 and a 1 year high of $363.00.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $14.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.10 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 5.00% and a return on equity of 944.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.24 earnings per share.

Lockheed Martin declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 27th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 28th. Investors of record on Monday, December 3rd will be paid a $2.20 dividend. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 30th. This represents a $8.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 60.02%.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Lockheed Martin in the third quarter worth approximately $104,000. FTB Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Lockheed Martin by 142.6% in the second quarter. FTB Advisors Inc. now owns 359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Fort L.P. bought a new position in Lockheed Martin in the second quarter worth approximately $116,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Lockheed Martin in the second quarter worth approximately $117,000. Finally, Quad Cities Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Lockheed Martin in the second quarter worth $131,000. 77.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.