General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $283.80.

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $281.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $280.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.22. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.