Company Update (NYSE:LMT): Lockheed sees deal soon with Pentagon for 160 more F-35 fighter jets

[Reuters – UK Focus] – Lockheed Martin (Swiss: LMT.SW – news) Corp said on Thursday it expects to reach an agreement soon with the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF – news) . Jeff Babione, Lockheed’s F-35 programme manager, told reporters he was “very, very encouraged” by the discussions about the ninth and 10th contracts, which are being conducted in tandem, and expected to finalise a deal with the Pentagon soon. Read more on this. Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) , valued at $76.02B, began trading this morning at $250.23. During the trading session, LMT traded between $249.03 to $250.88 with a one year range of $181.91 to $251.32. LMT shares are currently priced at 21.10x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 22.10x earnings multiple for the same period. According to a consensus of 16 analysts, the earnings estimate of $2.91 per share would be $0.03 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $11.85, which would be a $0.53 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $12.56 Billion. If realized, that would be a 7.90% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Berenberg downgraded LMT from Buy to Hold (May 31, 2016). Previously, RBC Capital Mkts downgraded LMT from Outperform to Sector Perform. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $244.29, which is 2.37% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:LMT) Similar Articles: Company Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – U.S. okays sale of 8 Lockheed F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan -Pentagon Company Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Pentagon expects to reach $15 bln F-35 deal with Lockheed in March Stock Update: Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) – Pentagon to spend $56.3 bln for 404 Lockheed F-35 jets over 5 years