Benzinga | Nov 1, 2021 12:01PM EDT

BofA Downgrades This Defense Contractor, Cuts Price Target By ~15%

* BofA analyst Ronald Epstein downgraded Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) to Neutral from Buy and lowered the price target to $375 (an upside of 13%), from $440, after the company reported Q3 results and gave a longer-term outlook for sales growth to decline about $1 billion year-over-year in 2022.

* Epstein noted while growth is presumed to grow steadily thereafter, "this was not well received as the story does not fit the broader narrative," with defense budgets not declining.

* While introducing a shareholder-friendly cash deployment strategy with new share buyback plans, Epstein added that this shows "a fairly-quick pivot" in strategy away from the initial focus on inorganic growth via M&A since the current management team took the reins.

* Price Action: LMT shares are trading higher by 0.33% at $333.41 on the last check Monday.