General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $370.65 and last traded at $367.8960, with a volume of 76763 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $362.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.40.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $342.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $347.92. The company has a market capitalization of $100.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,148,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 597.5% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 14.7% in the first quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Ballast Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.