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Northrop Grumman (NOC) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Northrop Grumman (NOC - Free Report) closed at $447.90, marking a -0.72% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.08%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.68%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.61%.

Heading into today, shares of the defense contractor had gained 3.56% over the past month, lagging the Aerospace sector's gain of 4.32% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.1% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Northrop Grumman as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $5.31, down 12.38% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $9.3 billion, up 5.7% from the year-ago period.

NOC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $22.57 per share and revenue of $38.33 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -11.63% and +4.71%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Northrop Grumman. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% higher. Northrop Grumman is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Northrop Grumman has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.99 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.34, so we one might conclude that Northrop Grumman is trading at a premium comparatively.

Also, we should mention that NOC has a PEG ratio of 5.26. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. NOC's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.82 as of yesterday's close.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 116, putting it in the top 47% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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