Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ (KTOS) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $25.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock.

KTOS has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. They set a market outperform rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday. They set a neutral rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $23.50.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $20.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 76.81 and a beta of 1.05. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $13.13 and a 1 year high of $22.77.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $277.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.48 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 3.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 310,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,200,020. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 310,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,200,020. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total transaction of $147,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 384,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,101,934.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,720 shares of company stock valued at $3,391,521 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $46,177,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,972,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $256,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,580 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 108.7% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,556,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $46,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331,499 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,198,000. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.