General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $260.00 to $245.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $298.00 to $283.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $240.00 to $222.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $268.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $243.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $267.15.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.0 %

GD stock opened at $218.79 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $233.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.26. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $207.42 and a fifty-two week high of $256.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $60.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.84.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.66 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.93%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $1.32 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.28%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 27,600 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.93, for a total value of $6,263,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 56,909 shares in the company, valued at $12,914,359.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Markel Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.9% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $94,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.2% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 294.2% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 791.6% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 51.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. 84.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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General Dynamics Corp. is a global aerospace and defense company, which engages in design, engineering, and manufacturing to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures, and sells business jets.