Company Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Banker: Don’t look for ‘meaningful billion-plus acquisitions’ in federal contracting

[at American City Business Journals] – Whether it was Lockheed Martin Corp.’s (LMT) $9 billion purchase of helicopter-maker Sikorsky Aircraft or even CACI International Inc.’s (CACI) announced $550 million purchase of L-3’s National Security Solutions business, 2015 was awash with big-ticket acquisitions in the government services space. Rather, it’s more likely that 2016 will be the year that big acquirers such as CACI, Lockheed and McLean-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) begin “ingesting” these companies. Read more on this. Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) , valued at $65.37B, opened at $211.99. Looking at the equity, the company’s one day range is $211.99 to $214.53 with the price of the stock fluctuating between $181.91 to $227.91 over the last 52 weeks. LMT shares are currently priced at 18.97x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 2.16x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $6.60 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.10%. According to a consensus of 18 analysts, the earnings estimate of $2.92 per share would be $0.09 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.08 sequential decrease. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $11.35 is a $0.05 setback when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $12.33 Billion. If reported, that would be a 1.60% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, RBC Capital Mkts upgraded LMT from Sector Perform to Outperform (Jan 6, 2016). Previously, Sterne Agee CRT upgraded LMT from Neutral to Buy. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $230.88, which is 8.91% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:LMT) Similar Articles: Market Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Lockheed wins more than $1 billion contract for C-130J aircraft Stock Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Lockheed Martin Increases Share Repurchase Authority by $3.0 Billion Company Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Lockheed to buy Black Hawk maker Sikorsky for $9 billion