Lockheed Martin’s credit rating was upgraded to A-minus Thursday, indicating it is at a low risk of default, and its stock was assigned a two-star rating out of five by market analyst Morningstar.
Morningstar joins several analysts such as , and Stifel, which have recommended a “buy” for the aerospace and defense contractor’s stock following its first-quarter 2015 earnings report.
On an April 21 earnings call, Lockheed Martin reported a first-quarter profit of $878 million, or $2.74 per share, versus $933 million, or $2.87 per share in the same period of 2014.
The company blamed the 5.9 percent decline in net income on military spending cuts.
However, the company’s Space Systems division, based in Colorado, saw first-quarter net sales increase to $1.95 billion from $1.86 billion a year earlier.
Programs like NASA’s Orion and government satellite programs boosted the division’s operating profit by $34 million over the same time last year.
Shares of Lockheed Martin opened Thursday at $186.65 and closed at $188.21.
Lockheed Martin’s 52-week low was $156.23, and the high was $207.06. The 50-day moving average is $197.45, and the 200-day moving average is $193.61 with a market cap of $58.9 billion.
