Market Update (NYSE:BA): Pentagon questions future viability of Lockheed-Boeing venture

[Reuters] – The Pentagon’s chief arms buyer on Wednesday said it was “questionable” whether United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, could survive if the U.S. Defense Department immediately stopped using the Russian RD-180 engine that powers ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket. Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that ULA did have a second rocket, the Delta 4, that did not use the RD-180 engines, but that vehicle was far more costly than the Atlas 5 rocket and could not compete with launches provided by SpaceX. Read more on this. The Boeing Company (BA) , with a current market cap of $80.14B, opened at $119.69. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $115.02 to $119.75 with a one year range of $115.02 to $158.83. BA shares are currently priced at 17.30x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry ’s 42.78x earnings multiple. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $4.36 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.50%. According to a consensus of 16 analysts, the earnings estimate of $1.27 per share would be $1.04 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.89 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $7.40, which would be a $1.20 worse when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $23.55 Billion. If realized, that would be a 3.76% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Standpoint Research upgraded BA from Hold to Buy (Jan 14, 2016). Previously, Wells Fargo downgraded BA from Outperform to Market Perform. The average price target for BA shares by the analysts covering the stock is $163.78, which is 36.84% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:BA) Similar Articles: Company Update: The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) – Lockheed-Boeing venture orders 20 more Russian rocket engines Company Update: The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) – Lockheed-Boeing launch venture wins $882 mln U.S. contract Stock Update: The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) – Boeing rejects Aerojet Rocketdyne bid for ULA launch venture