General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives $314.88 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $314.88.

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. Susquehanna raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $266.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $284.53 and its 200 day moving average is $291.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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.