Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 9.800-10.000 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.77.

Leidos Price Performance

NYSE:LDOS traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $184.31. 356,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 853,407. The company has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos has a 1-year low of $100.17 and a 1-year high of $188.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $162.48 and a 200 day moving average of $150.78.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Leidos will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total value of $144,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,622,241.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.