Harris Corp (HRS) Well Poised For Growth: Time To Buy?

On Dec 5, we issued an updated research report on leading communications equipment and service provider Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS) .

Of late, the company has won multiple contracts, which should boost its top line. Earlier in the month, the company won a five-year follow-on contract worth $43 million from the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research.

In October, the company was awarded a Communications Network Services contract worth $700 million by the State of Florida. Additionally, the company received a military contract worth $1.7 billion in June. As a leading government electronics supplier, Harris Corp. is benefiting from the increase in U.S. defense expenditures as well as strong market conditions for RF (radio frequency) communications. Recently, the company also opened a state-of-the-art global innovation center that showcases some of the best innovations by Harris.

We are impressed with the company's efforts to reward shareholders. In Aug 2016, the company raised its quarterly dividend to 53 cents per share ($2.12 per share annualized), representing an increase of 6% over the previous payout of 50 cents per share. The dividend hike not only indicates the company's commitment to create value for shareholders but also underlines its confidence about business growth. Harris Corp. has an impressive dividend payment record. In fact, this is the 15th consecutive annual dividend hike by the company.

The company’s earnings history is also impressive. It outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings beat of 4.20%.

Riding on these bullish factors, the Harris Corp. stock has surpassed the Zacks categorized Wireless-Equipment industry, year to date. The stock has gained 21.91% compared with the industry, which has contracted 10.53% over the same period.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Harris Corp. currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably placed stocks in the broader computer & technology sector include Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR) , Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVIDIA Corporation’s current-year earnings has jumped 33.3% to $2.48 per share.

Over the last 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cirrus Logic’s current-year earnings has jumped 29.1% to $3.73 per share.

Asure Software’s earnings per share for the current year are projected to grow in excess of 100%.

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