General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $300.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $288.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.69. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 40,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,602,000 after acquiring an additional 26,668 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 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.