Moody's upgrades Aerojet Rocketdyne

Moody's Investor Services late last month upgraded the ratings of Aerojet Rocketdyne, citing the "strong budgetary setting" as well as the company's operational efficiency efforts.

Moody's changed the rating outlook to positive from stable.

Bruce Herskovics, lead analyst at Moody's, told Inside Defense Aerojet is benefiting from a stronger defense budget.

"The area of emphasis of Aerojet fits very well with the spending emphasis that the DOD is going to be pursuing over the next few years so missile systems, spacecraft systems, launch vehicles -- those are the kinds of categories where you should see reasonably healthy funding flows," he said.

Herskovics said the company's outlook is "much, much rosier" than it was several years ago.