General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Baird R W

Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE GD opened at $264.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $275.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.61. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GD. BFI Infinity Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,326 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.