Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 9.800-10.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 9.080. The company issued revenue guidance of $16.4 billion-$16.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $16.3 billion. Leidos also updated its FY24 guidance to $9.80-10.00 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LDOS. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Leidos from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.92.

Leidos Price Performance

Leidos stock traded up $16.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $186.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,111,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 845,695. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Leidos has a 12-month low of $90.53 and a 12-month high of $186.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.88.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 8.96 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s payout ratio is 47.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell bought 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $145.04 per share, with a total value of $248,308.48. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,605.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell bought 1,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $145.04 per share, with a total value of $248,308.48. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,605.92. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,241.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

About Leidos

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.