General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Short Interest Down 16.0% in March

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,570,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the February 28th total of 3,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7 %

GD traded up $2.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $276.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,349,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,670. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $258.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $550,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GD. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

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.