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

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $314.88.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $263.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $283.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares during the period. 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.