Jefferies Financial Group Reiterates Hold Rating for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $345.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.38.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $263.18 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $291.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.73. The firm has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 26.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after purchasing an additional 357,861 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.