Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS, with rising earnings estimates, robust ROE and a solid backlog, offers a great investment opportunity in the Zacks Aerospace sector.

Let’s focus on the reasons that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock an attractive investment pick at the moment.

Growth Projections & Surprise History of LDOS
 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Leidos’ 2024 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 5.4% to $8.95 in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s total revenues for 2024 stands at $16.27 billion, which indicates growth of 5.4% from the 2023 reported figure.

Leidos’ long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 12.5%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 23.49% in the last four quarters.

LDOS’ Return on Equity
 

Return on equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently a company has been utilizing its funds to generate higher returns. Currently, LDOS’ ROE is 28.4% compared to its industry’s average of 11.53%. This indicates that the company has been utilizing its funds more constructively than its peers in the sector.

Leidos’ Debt Position
 

Currently, the company’s total debt to capital is 50.9%, better than the industry’s average of 55.29%.

Leidos’ times interest earned ratio (TIE) at the end of the second quarter of 2024 was 4.5. The TIE ratio of more than 1 indicates that the company will be able to meet its interest payment obligations in the near term without any problems.

LDOS’ Liquidity
 

Leidos’ current ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2024 was 1.21. The strong ratio of greater than 1 indicates the company’s ability to meet its future short-term liabilities without difficulties.

Rising Backlog of Leidos
 

Contract wins from the Pentagon and other U.S allies for its cost-effective military technologies are one of Leidos Holdings' key sources of revenues. These contract wins help enhance the company's bookings and backlog.

Leidos had an excellent backlog of $36.49 billion as of June 30, 2024, up from $34.15 billion in the prior year. Such significant backlog trends improve the company's revenue-generating possibilities for the following quarters.

LDOS Stock Price Performance
 

In the past six months, LDOS shares have rallied 20.3% compared with the industry’s rise of 1%.

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Other Stocks to Consider
 

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same sector are Curtiss-Wright Corp. CW, BAE Systems BAESY and Leonardo DRS, Inc. DRS, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Curtiss-Wright delivered an average earnings surprise of 11.52% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CW’s total revenues for 2024 stands at $3.05 billion, which indicates growth of 7% from the 2023 reported figure.

BAE Systems’ long-term earnings growth rate is 12.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAESY’s 2024 sales is pegged at $35.84 billion, which implies an improvement of 36.3% from the 2023 reported sales figure.  

Leonardo DRS’ long-term earnings growth rate is 16.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DRS’ total revenues for 2024 stands at $3.15 billion, which indicates year-over-year growth of 11.4%.

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