Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $27.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $20.00. Raymond James’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 56.25% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

KTOS opened at $17.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -287.95 and a beta of 0.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $12.12 and a 1 year high of $21.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.42.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total value of $27,075.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,637,369.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total value of $27,075.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,637,369.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total value of $63,665.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 290,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,277,246.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,538 shares of company stock worth $763,479. Company insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 57,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.4% during the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 190,604 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,332 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. Finally, LGL Partners LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 51,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.