General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $314.88.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target 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.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $265.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $286.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.01. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $73.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.60.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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 $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,928,000 after buying an additional 44,387 shares during the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 19,875 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,006,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in General Dynamics by 12.4% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $17,039,000 after purchasing an additional 6,231 shares during the period. American Trust lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. American Trust now owns 2,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 605.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 79,568 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $24,045,000 after purchasing an additional 68,290 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.