General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $298.59.

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of 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 decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% during the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $246.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a one year low of $242.86 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $263.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.85.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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.