General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $314.88.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2,189.3% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after buying an additional 357,861 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $263.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.