L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) Given “Buy” Rating at Cowen and Company

Cowen and Company reiterated their buy rating on shares of L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) in a research note released on Thursday. Cowen and Company currently has a $185.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

“We expect investors will react positively to L-3’s succession announcement, which.”,” Cowen and Company’s analyst commented.

LLL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $159.00 price objective on shares of L-3 Communications Holdings in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank AG lifted their price objective on L-3 Communications Holdings from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Zacks Investment Research raised L-3 Communications Holdings from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $187.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. BidaskClub raised L-3 Communications Holdings from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up from $160.00) on shares of L-3 Communications Holdings in a research note on Saturday, April 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $179.18.

L-3 Communications Holdings (LLL) traded down 0.62% during trading on Thursday, hitting $176.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,106,401 shares. L-3 Communications Holdings has a 12-month low of $132.38 and a 12-month high of $180.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.60 and a 200 day moving average of $165.02. The company has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.14.

L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE:LLL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The aerospace company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.26. L-3 Communications Holdings had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 5.98%. The business had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that L-3 Communications Holdings will post $8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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L-3 Communications Holdings declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 11.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. L-3 Communications Holdings’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

In other L-3 Communications Holdings news, insider Michael T. Strianese sold 22,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.98, for a total value of $3,832,539.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 67,641 shares of company stock valued at $11,432,231. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northstar Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of L-3 Communications Holdings by 1.0% in the second quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 9,650 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of L-3 Communications Holdings by 10.8% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Voor DE Media PNO purchased a new stake in shares of L-3 Communications Holdings during the second quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. Aperio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of L-3 Communications Holdings by 10.3% in the second quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 26,353 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,403,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Finally, Livingston Group Asset Management CO operating as Southport Capital Management raised its stake in shares of L-3 Communications Holdings by 2.8% in the second quarter. Livingston Group Asset Management CO operating as Southport Capital Management now owns 1,867 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

L-3 Communications Holdings Company Profile

L3 Technologies, Inc, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc, is a prime contractor in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems, aircraft sustainment, simulation and training, night vision and image intensification equipment and security and detection systems. The Company provides a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms.