Huntington Wins U.S. Navy Contract

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ ( HII - Snapshot Report ) business wing AMSEC LLC received an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity firm-fixed price contract for offering enterprise business process information support to the Naval Supply Systems Command ("NAVSUP") Fleet Logistics Center in Virginia.

The $19.6 million agreement comprises of a one-year base period and includes the provision of two one-year options. The entire operation will be conducted in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and is expected to be concluded by Apr 2016, provided all options are put into effect.

Per the contract, AMSEC will support the information technology systems of the Navy Marine Corp’s Intranet ("NMCI")/ functional area manager. These support services are for the enterprise business process information systems that support the Submarine Maintenance Engineering and Planning and Procurement Office ("SUBMEPP").

The contract is expected to increase the company’s foothold in the New England region and will lead to future growth opportunities. AMSEC previously clinched a big-time $900 million contract from the U.S. Navy for providing in support design, acquisition, production, integration, testing, installation and configuration management of certified C5ISR capabilities.

We believe these significant contract acquisitions might help the company to weather the austerity drive in the U.S. defense budget. Furthermore, the company’s solid backlog of orders, strong share repurchases programs and healthy dividend payout are expected to be tailwinds in the near term. Huntington Ingalls currently retains a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other front runners in the defense domain are Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company ( EADSY ) and Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) holders Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMT - Analyst Report ) and The Boeing Company ( BA - Analyst Report ) .

Based in Newport News, VA, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs ships primarily for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. It offers nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines; and non-nuclear ships, including surface combatants, expeditionary warfare/amphibious assault, coastal defense surface ships, and national security cutters.