Pentagon Hands Out $880 Million-Plus in New Contracts Tuesday

The Department of Defense issued 14 separate contract awards Tuesday, totaling just over $880 million in combined value. Among publicly traded U.S. defense contractors, a few of the notable winners were:

Navistar (NYSE: NAV  ) , whose Defense division was awarded an $18.2 million increase funding for work on the Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) MaxxPro Survivability Upgrade. Tuesday's award brings the cumulative value of this contract to $152.3 million for Navistar. Raytheon's (NYSE: RTN  ) Integrated Defense Systems division, which won a $10.4 million contract modification to supply Radar Digital Processor Upgrade Kits for the PATRIOT anti-aircraft missile system, roughly doubling the size of the initial contract. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT  ) , which won a $27.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract "with provision to issue cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursement-no-fee contract," hiring it to maintain software aboard Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft, to provide engineering support on same, and to draw up an emergency operational flight plan. Lockheed is expected to complete this work by June 20, 2016. Bell Helicopter Textron (NYSE: TXT  ) , which is being awarded $38.8 million to supply the Marines with two new Lot 10 AH-1Z "Viper" attack helicopters by this September. FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR  ) , which won $42.6 million to supply an unspecified number of Hand Held Imager-Miniaturized Long Range (HHI-Mini LR) laser range finders to the Naval Surface Warfare Center by June 2018.

Will Wells Fargo Stock Reach a New 52-Week High Today?

Big banks had an exceptionally fantastic week as investors showered all with share price boosts. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) all rode the wave higher and higher, and all closed very near their 52-week highs.

For B of A, the meteoric rise is a bit of a stumper, considering the fact that it is facing a judge in a Manhattan courtroom this week, and the outcome of this hearing could have dire consequences for the big bank. Apparently, investors have faith -- and it's showing.

Citi had some good news, settling up with insurer Allstate (NYSE: ALL  ) over some cruddy MBSes, in a "mutually agreeable" manner, according to Bloomberg. JPMorgan and Wells likely felt pretty smug as Fannie Mae plummeted this week, along with Freddie Mac -- less than one week after telling Bloomberg how it has been squeezing mortgage originators out of profits by cutting the banks out of the lucrative securitization process.

For Wells, today promises to be another good day, and not just because of the general financial sector rally. In addition to the uplifting housing news this week, CEO John Stumpf spoke at an investors' conference in New York and took on a very prescient subject: interest rates. In plain language, Stumpf acknowledged the challenges that the current environment presents and even admitted that his bank may have erred in leaving too much cash on the sidelines, waiting for the big change-up to occur.

It's not very often that a big bank CEO admits to being wrong, but it's just this kind of straight shooting that has kept Wells' figurative head above water when peers were in danger of drowning. In the first hour of trading, Wells is down a smidge, but I think it will rally, and then some. Investors want honesty, and Wells will surely be the recipient of some appreciation on that score.

Wells Fargo's dedication to solid, conservative banking helped it vastly outperform its peers during the financial meltdown. Today, Wells is the same great bank as ever, but with its stock trading at a premium to the rest of the industry, is there still room to buy, or is it time to cash in your gains? To help figure out whether Wells Fargo is a buy today, I invite you to download our premium research report from one of The Motley Fool's top banking analysts. Click here now for instant access to this in-depth take on Wells Fargo.

Capital Southwest to Change CEOs in June

Dallas-based Capital Southwest Corp. (NASDAQ: CSWC  ) will have a new CEO soon. The asset manager and venture capitalist says Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Gary L. Martin will resign effective June 17 and be replaced by new President and CEO Joseph B. Armes, who currently serves as CEO of family investment vehicle JBA Investment Partners.

Martin joined Capital Southwest in 1972 as chief financial officer.

In a filing with the SEC, Capital Southwest disclosed that it will be paying Armes an annual base salary of $430,000, plus:

An annual cash bonus of up to 150% of base salary. 7,500 stock options vesting over five years. 1,250 shares of restricted stock. 6,000 "phantom stock options," which allow Armes to benefit from an appreciation in Capital Southwest's stock price (if it happens) as if he had exercised stock options and sold stock for a profit -- but do not require him to go through with the actual mechanics of such exercise and sale.

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