Zacks Research Predicts Lower Earnings for General Dynamics

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for General Dynamics in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the aerospace company will post earnings per share of $3.37 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.47. The consensus estimate for General Dynamics’ current full-year earnings is $13.87 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for General Dynamics’ Q3 2025 earnings at $2.69 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.14 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $4.90 EPS.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on GD. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.88.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.3 %

GD opened at $263.64 on Monday. General Dynamics has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $72.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $288.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.53.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 79.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 4,685 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.5% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 82,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,014 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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.