General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) to Repurchase 10,000,000 Shares

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.69.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $277.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.17. 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 has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for 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%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 26.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % 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.

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.