Aerospace Stock Flashing 'Buy' Ahead of SpaceX IPO

Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) is trading 3.8% higher at $544.81 this afternoon, maintaining its 12% year-to-date gain, but struggling to make any longer-term progress. Although LMT remains 21.3% below its March 2 record high of $692.00, a historically bullish signal is now flashing, which could suggest more gains are to come for the struggling defense stock.

According to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, LMT is trading within 0.75 times the 260-day moving average's 20-day average true range (ATR), after spending at least 80% of the previous two weeks and 80% of the prior 42 trading sessions above that trendline.

This setup has appeared nine times during the last decade, after which the stock was higher one month later 78% of the time, averaging an impressive 3.8% gain. A comparable rally from current levels would put Lockheed Martin stock at just $565. 

Currently, 16 of the 24 brokerages in coverage sport a "hold" or worse recommendation. This leaves ample room for more bulls to move in, should this bearish attention begin to unwind. 

Lockheed stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 99 out of 100. In other words, the security has consistently realized higher volatility than its options have priced in over the past 12 months.