Short Interest in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Increases By 5.7%

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,500,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 3,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.19.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $261.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.63. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $71.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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 during 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 company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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 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 $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.